good morning. meeting the press. president obama holds his first post-election news conference today. how will he address the growing scandal involving two top generals, and does he think he should have been told about it sooner? it was a lie. the man who accused elmo puppeteer kevin clash of having an inappropriate relationship with him when he was underage now recants his story. why did he make up such a damaging claim? and it's the sure sign the holiday season is upon us, the arrival of the rockefeller plaza christmas tree, wednesday, november 14, 2012. 3 c3 además, una segura señal de que

>> we will have more of them. i'm willie geist in for matt. president obama bracing for some tough questions at the press conference this afternoon but the scandal involving top national security officials to a new level. >> secretary of state hillary clinton and defense secretary leon panetta have already addressed the situation from australia secretary panetta said no one should leap to conclusions about general allen's e-mails to jill kelley who started this all. . we are also learning more about her this morning and why did she claim to have diplomatic privileges when the state department says she had no affiliation with them?

more on that straight ahead. >> and the rockefeller christmas tree is on the way. another symbol of the holidays, black friday, but this year the dash for deals will start on thanksgiving. a lot of people not happy about that signing a petition to stop it. coming up we'll hear from the woman behind that movement and today's professionals will weigh in. and then as we know hollywood filled with good looking men, but who is the sexiest man alive? this morning we will reveal "people" magazine's pick, and willie, good luck to you. we begin this morning with the new fallout in the wide nick scandal tied to former cia director david petraeus' admitted affair. nbc's andrea mitchell is keeping track of it all. good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, savannah. marine general john allen, david petraeus' successor in afghanistan and the next nominated head of military for nato nomination put on hold.

this scandal involves two very different women, tampa socialite jill kelley and petraeus biographer paula broadwell with whom petraeus had a relationship. >> thank you for all that you have done for me and for our precious daughters. >> reporter: marine general john allen is married with a sterling record, but on a flight to australia monday aides to defense secretary leon panetta disclosed a dramatic turn in the case involving allen's predecessor in afghanistan, david petraeus. fbi investigators you be covered what the pentagon called potentially inappropriate communications between general allen and jill kelley whom he and his wife had gotten to know in tampa. they were reviewing between 20,000 and 30,000 pages of documents, including e-mails over two years. the fbi said some were flirtatious, but the general strongly denies any misconduct, and the fbi found no wrongdoing. still, jay johnson, the pentagon's general counsel, saw a number of the e-mails before advising secretary panetta to

refer the matter to the department's inspector general for further investigation. >> nobody should jump to conclusions here. general allen is doing an excellent job in isap in leading the forces, and he certainly has my continued confidence in leading our forces and continue the fight. >> reporter: officials say the fbi discovered the communications while investigating kelley's e-mails after she complained about anonymous threats that turned out to be from paula broadwell. the president was first told on friday, the day he accepted petraeus' resignation, that there could be a problem with allen's nomination to nato. >> the president has put on hold general allen's nomination as supreme allied commander of europe pending the investigation of general allen's conduct by the department of defense, ig. >> jill kelley had a brief turn in the reality tv spotlight ten years ago performing in a cooking competition with her twin sister on the food network. >> we want to go up against guys because it is nice to exploit their weakness. there you go.

>> reporter: she enjoyed socializing with the powerful in tampa and doing volunteer work for military family and she gave people the impression she had a state department status which she did not. last weekend she invoked diplomatic-type privileges during calls to police including two members of nbc. >> i am an honor consul-general, and so i have invieolability. >> on tuesday the state department knocked down kelley's claim. >> i can assure you that she does not work for the state department and has no affiliation with the state department. >> reporter: today the "wall street journal" reports that after asking the fbi to investigate jill kelley soon realized it might expose personal information and tried to get the information to drop the matter. and "the journal" reports general allen also received anonymous e-mails later traced to paula broadwell warning him to stay away from jill kellly.

savannah? >> andrea mitchell in washington, thank you. chuck todd is nbc's white house correspondent and political director, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning. the president holds his first post-election news conference today. suffice it to say when this was planned military sex scandals is not what he wanted to address today. a couple of questions. how damaging potentially is this to the president politically and more importantly to his real world national security objectives to have two generals ensnared in this. >> police cli -- politically, the white house is not that concerned about it, because this is not quote, unquote, one of their people. here's what i mean by this. david petraeus is somebody that has served multiple administrations, has actually, if you will, probably a bigger political fan base on the republican sued of the aisle. i think that this white house would feel more politically vulnerable if that were somebody that was more closely associated with the president over years and years, so on the politics front, while a distraction, while not how he wants to spend

half of his press conference today answering his questions about this, they don't see the political damage yet, but, of course, you know, this investigation every morning there seems to be something new. the second thing, and the second part of your question is i think that they view the whole national security team, they think that they do need to -- they are worried about having all of these vacancies at one time, and i think they see the need to do some of this earlier and i would be willing to bet that the new secretary of state, that decision gets made sooner rather than later, because suddenly they don't want this idea that they have a slew of new national security people openings right in the middle as you are trying to do the drawdown in afghanistan. >> many members of congress are irked at the fbi that they were not notified earlier. >> reporter: yeah. >> the president himself did not find out about this until after election day. do you expect the president to take on the issue in the news conference and say he wishes he were notified earlier? >> i do, savannah.

yesterday i had a back and forth with jay carney and couple of other reporters did specifically asking if the president is satisfied with how the information got to him h, and did the fbi give -- an all jay kept saying is that well, fbi was following protocol. jay, that's not the question. is the president satisfied with how he was informed, how quickly he was informed of this situation involving his cia director, and he wouldn't answer that question so i would suspect that that is code for, number one, the president is not satisfied and number, two, that's the question. a lot of this i expect the president to try to duck and not get too involved in the weeds. that specific question i wouldn't be surprise federal he expresses some outrage for himself and on behalf of congress. >> we'll find out a little bit later today. chuck todd at the white house, thank you. and we should mention nbc news will have live coverage of president obama's news conference at 1:30 eastern time. coming up this morning, more on jill kelley and her life as a florida socialite. now let's get a check of the other top stories this morning from natalie over at the news desk. hey, natalie. >> good morning, willie and savannah. good morning, everyone. yet more trouble for the

military this morning as a four-star u.s. general has been demoted for inappropriate behavior on the job. general william kip ward, former head of the u.s. africa command has been stripped of a star for allegedly spending tens of thousands of dollars on lavish travel and unauthorized expenses. ward will have to repay the government $82,000. another major recall this morning from toyota as the auto giant pulls some 2.7 million cars worldwide. the recall involves faulty steering and a water pump problem on some prius models but no reported accidents have been linked to these issues. just last month toyota had to recall some 7.4 million cars due to a fire risk in the power windows. let's head to wall street struggling over the last few years. cnbc's courtney reagan over at the stock exchange. >> it has been a tough couple of week weeks and i e impending cut

expiration and spending cuts are top of mind for wall street. ceos of a dozen cops will meet with president obama today to discuss the looming fiscal cliff. among those attending the meeting, the ceo of aetna, american express, ge, ford, pepsi and walmart, urging washington to work together to come to a resolution. meantime, millions of facebook shares could hit the market today as a lockup on some 800 million shares expires. natalie. >> courtney reagan at the new york stock exchange. thank you. a fiery plane crash in a jackson, mississippi neighborhood left no survivors killing all three people on board. the single-engine piper had just taken off from a local airport when it struck a home. amazingly a resident in that house escaped with only minor injuries. u.s. soccer gold medalist hope solo and her fiance spent what would have been a wedding day in a seattle courtroom tuesday. the former seattle seahawks star jeremy stevens had been arrested monday for a domestic violence case against solo. police reports indicates that solo suffered a bloody laceration on her elbow.

stevens was released and not charged. the man accusing elmo puppeteer kevin clash of engaging him in an underage sexual relationship has now dropped his allegations and says the relationship was adult and consensual. clash had denied that the relationship began when the accuser was underage from the start, but it took a leave of absence from sesame workshop to fight the allegations. more on this in the next half hour. madonna knows how to keep new york city rocking. look at who she got to join hert a madison square garden last night. ♪ "gangnam style" >> yeah, the material girl had no problem with "gangnam style," picking up that horsey dance from her favorite korean pop star psy. he's just everywhere. 7:11 right now and back over to savannah, willie and al. >> i've got to say i've missed that song. haven't played it in what, 20 minutes? >> i know. >> we can break out the horsey

dance any time you want. >> i'm always ready, miss natalie. >> wouldn't it have been great nexus if we got one direction to do "gangnam style?" >> why didn't we think of that. >> thanks, natalie. >> now a check of the weather. >> chilly conditions for friends down south. we're talking from georgia on into deep into the heart of texas where we've got freeze warnings and freezing fog. frost warnings as well. look at the temperatures. san angelo 29, 41 in birmingham and 37 degrees in -- are you okay, willie? >> was he juggling? >> an ice cube. >> okay. f >> showers in the pacific northwest and rain down througt the southeast. beautiful day here in the good wednesday morning to you. beautiful sunrise.

you can see diablo in the distance from san bruno. beautiful day shaping up. few high clouds out there. highs today are going to be unseasonably warm. 74 degrees in livermore. 71 in san francisco. lot of rain in the forecast starting lit tomorrow. lasting all the way through the weekend. and the beginning of next week. and that's and that's your latest weather. willie? is what gangnam style. the thermometer was doing gangnam style. >> yeah, that's it. >> that's the horse dance. i'd know it anywhere. >> need some help with the feet but the hands are working he will. >> he's a thermometer. what are you going to do? >> all right, thanks very much. congressional hearings begin today into the deadly meningitis linked to tainted steroid injections. the co-owner of the massachusetts pharmacy that made the drugs as well as state and federal regulations will be

asked to explain what went wrong and why so many red flags were missed. lisa myers has more on the story. good morning, lisa. >> reporter: good morning. the co-owner of the pharmacy said he'll take the fifth and refuse to answer questions because of ongoing criminal investigations. that will leave federal and state regulators on the hot seat to explain why they allowed a business with a checkered history to keep making drugs with deadly consequences. >> i hope to carry on poppa's love and passion for the loss. >> reporter: 78-year-old eddie lacey was a circuit judge in kentucky who got spinal injections to relieve back pain. >> daddy, i love you more than life. >> reporter: he had been buried with this touch tribute from his family. >> if i could speak to you again i'd tell you how much i love you. >> reporter: before his wife joyce finally learned that he was among the first victims of the meningitis outbreak. >> you think you're in a safe place, and then they inject

something into your body that kills you? and, i mean, this is america. can't we expect more? >> reporter: so far 32 are dead and 438 sickened by tainted steroids which federal authorities say came from the new england compounding center. >> in terms of new infections occurring, i do think the worst is over. >> reporter: a recent inspection of the necc facility found serious safety violations, mold and bacteria in clean rooms, unsanitary conditions and improper sterilization procedure. a staff report by the house committee investigating the crisis says necc has a long history of very similar, if not identical, underlying misconduct. going back a decade. in 2002 an fda inspection turned up sterility problems, and later that year two patients came down with bacterial meningitis after receiving the same steroid linked to the current crisis. the fda suggested the pharmacy be shut down and prohibited from manufacturing until procedures improved.

but state regulators later found the pharmacy in compliance. >> at the new england compounding center was shutdown and present vented from manufacturing all of the chemicals, we could have stopped this tragedy. >> massachusetts regulators investigated at least 12 complaints about necc or its owner and issued four lerts and informal reprimand. >> somebody dropped the ball. somebody along the way was careless, was gree dirks was negligent, and they cost my husband his life. >> reporter: now the state revoked necc's license last month. the fda says its authority over these kind of pharmacies is limited, and it's committed to strengthening the system. necc had no comment about today's hearing but has said it's cooperating with all investigations. willie? >> all right. lisa myers, thanks very much. savannah. >> the friday after thanksgiving has long marked the traditional kickoff of the holiday season

but a number of retailers are getting a jump on it by moving it to thanksgiving day, a decision that is not sitting well with some people. nbc's diana avilear has more. >> reporter: it all started with one target worker who felt the change in hours was unfair, so she wanted to stand up to her fellow employees and start an online petition that's getting a lot of attention. >> will you join me and ask target to give thanksgiving back to the families and not open thanksgiving evening. >> reporter: when casey sinclair wrote her petition to target, the sales associate had a simple demand. >> target can take the high road and save thanksgiving for employees like me and our families by saying no to thanksgiving creep. >> reporter: she was talking about the news that this year target, walmart, toys r us and other big retailers would kick off black friday on thursday evening. with two jobs to make ends meet

casey had planned to spend thanksgiving, her one day off, with her family. instead, she was scheduled to work. so casey took action writing a petition to target's ceo. >> i have no problem with the black friday. i just want it to stay on friday. >> reporter: to her surprise her petition went viral, gathering nearly 200,000 signatures in just a few days and generating similar petitions by staff at other stores. >> i think that shows that it's an issue that resonates with people across the country, and it's not just one employee's problem with target. >> reporter: one supporter said let employees have their holidays, too. another wrote i've never heard anyone say i sure wish stores opened earlier for black friday. however, retailers say that's exactly what they heard from their customers. >> our customers said we want to come in early and go to bed early to shop early. it's eating the thanksgiving

dinner and doing the dishing and getting some exercise at watarg. >> reporter: walmart and target offer their workers holiday pay, an attractive incentive. target telling nbc news we've heard from many stores that they had more team members volunteer to work than they had available shifts, and that team member preferences were considered in creating our store staffing schedules. with 10% of holiday sales at stake during the thanksgiving weekend alone in what's been a tough economic year, opening early is one way for retailers to get consumers in the door. >> they are not there cashiering, not trying to push back a crowd of people that want a tv, you know. they are at home just waiting for the money to roll in. >> reporter: she hopes her petition gets more than just attention. she wants retail workers to get the gift of thanksgiving with their families. she's definitely gotten the attention of target management. yesterday, casey got a call letting her know she wouldn't face any consequences regarding

her e petition and also that she would have thanksgiving day off. she declined and chose to work saying it would be unfair to her fellow employees who didn't get the same option. savannah. >> diana, thank you. by the way, we wanted to know what you thought about this. in a poll on today.com we asked and 60% of you agree with the petition. you would like black friday to start on friday, but that's not overwhelming. some people want to shop on thanksi guess. >> not me. >> or if they don't want black friday to exist either. >> more power to you if you want to get out. back to the petraeus situation for just a minute. obviously a lot of serious questions, but whenever you have a whiff of sex with powerful people, it gives late night comedians a lot of fodder. here's what they have been saying this week. >> the woman involved is petraeus' biographer. paula broadwell, paula broadwell, why does that name seem so familiar to me? please welcome to the program, paula broadwell. in case anyone out there thought i may have journalist instincts i'll give you a quick snippet of

my energy. >> he loves serving and be in the arena. i thought i'd test him and he tested me, crushed his pelvis and it was back in the swimming pool and came at it from a mentoring point of view. he can turn water into bottled water. >> the whole thing was like innuendo after innuendo and the whole time i'm like duh. i'm the worst journalist in the world! for god sakes. the title of her book was "all in." >> you know how he found out that his wife knew? when he got home and saw all of his classified documents in the driveway on fire. honey, honey, let me -- >> interesting fact. david petraeus was reportedly not well liked at the cia where he worked. yeah. tip for you fellows out there. don't cheat on your wife if you work with professional spies who don't like you. >> people are disappointed.

four-star general, highly decorated, brilliant strategist, director of the cia, yet he's behaving like your common congressman. people are stunned. >> my solemn duty as a talk show host to inform you that justin bieber and selena gomez have broken up. she was cheating on him with general petraeus. >> finally today, a rare 76 carat diamond went up for auction in switzerland while the jeweller called it a priceless stone and general petraeus' wife called it a start. >> i think that the late night comedians were worried that the election is over and where is the material going to come from? well, they had to wait three days. >> to think i was concerned they wouldn't have anything to talk about. >> all set now. coming up, more on the woman at heart of the scandal, florida socialite jill kelley and new questions about her past, but first this is "today" on nbc. [ female announcer ] martinelli's gold medal sparkling cider

is the perfect choice for holiday gatherings. martinelli's is non-alcoholic, festive like champagne, and tastes great! martinelli's: since 1868. coming up, a consumer alert

tumor alert on breakfast cereals. we will find out who is this year's sexiest man alive? ur local news and weather. a day to shop at stores owned by our friends and neighbors. and do our part for the businesses that do so much for us. on november 24th, let's get out and shop small.

7:26. good morning. i'm jon kelley. minutes ago, house minority leader nancy pelosi announcing she would submit her mihm as house minority leader. she's staying on. >> i have made a decision to submit my name to my colleagues, to once again serve as the house democratic leader. >> lot of happy people there. pelosi appearing before the press with the women of the house making a bold statement there. there are more women now in the house than ever before. some thought that she would actually step down as house minority leader to try to help out the president. they see her as a liability during the fiscal cliff negotiations. nancy pelosi will be staying on. right now let's send it outside and check things out with christina loren. >> good morning. the warmth is staying on for the next couple of days. we will see the 70s and you can see already little bit more cloud cover out there this morning. storm system on the way. first showers areeve tomorrow

night. enjoy it while it lasts. 74 degrees for livermore. 71 degrees today in san jose and san francisco. look at what's on the way for friday morning. heavy rain primt. go ahead and keep that in mind and once this wet pattern starts we are going to be in the thick of it all the way throughout the weekend and into the first part of next week. good news is that showers should clear out of here for the second half of your tuesday. just before we hit the busiest travel day of the year. 7:27. let's check on your drive. what's happening out there now. >> right now look we have this big, big flow of traffic north 280 approaching. actually it is slow coming out of downtown. let me show you on the map. entire streak going on from the center of your map right to left. jam northbound 280 past the 80 interchange. cupertino. bottom of the screen, 85. top of your screen 101. southbound direction through the east bay. 880 slow through the city out of hayward and into fremont.

680 still recovering after the earlier accident at around dry head. cleared. 580 out of the tri valley and south 680, accident should be clear. still slow heading out of concord through walnut creek. >> great update. thank you very much. latest traffic and news update. make sure you check us out on facebook.

cooper, the last five years of the sexiest man alive right there, so the question this morning, who will be "people's" pick this time around? we will reveal it to the world in just a bit. i'm savannah guthrie alongside willie geist in for matt. >> going to make a joke. go ahead. >> well, it shgs si, it is jus appear in this issue, do you not? >> we'll find out later. >> okay. >> i'm not the only one. also ahead, a family's medical mystery solved in part by this program. it began with a writer opening up about the rare disease that had descended her into madness. her symptoms seemed to match those of a teenager whose aunt was watching, and it eventually helped safe that girl's life. we'll meet them all in a little bit. >> look forward to that. of course, there's some of your

favorite food and have labels showing lots of healthy fruit, but wait until we show you what is really inside on this morning's rossen reports. >> today's professionals getting a little help from padmi lakshmi and we'll discuss the dramatic weight loss of matt mcconaughey and ann hathaway, and are they going too far in their roles? >> all right we will get into that. now, over to a scandal that has rocked the administration from the cia to the pentagon. kerry sanders, good morning. >> reporter: this case has had a strange twist. officials say the fbi agent first contacted about these harassing e-mails sent a picture of themselves without a shirt on to the woman complaining about the e-mails, that was jill kelley who is living in the house behind me, and now the kelley's charity is under the

microscope. jill kelley, the woman whose complaint inadvertently led the fbi to david petraeus' extramarital affair is not talking but not hiding. the appearance of jill kelley and her twin sister natalie in a food network tv show nearly a decade ago is an example, say friends, of an effort to put themselves in the spotlight. >> we were raised mediterranean and olive oil and peppers and artichokes are normal staple foods in our home. >> reporter: some even call them the kardashians of tampa bay. >> taste that. >> what does it need? >> fix it. >> reporter: jill and her husband, an oncologist, were very close to petraeus. the general even posed in a family photo album with their children. the investigation has now revealed e-mails from jill kelley to another general, john allen, e-mails her brother says were neither inappropriate nor sexual. >> there's reports indicating that she's maybe more than a friend to general allen. >> oh, absolutely not. absolutely not. and, you know, you need to talk to her or you need to talk to her -- her liaison, but i think at this juncture the reason why

my sister is not talking to anybody is because, you know, she's allowing the system to do its thing. >> reporter: but kelleys live in this tampa mansion which they bought for $1.5 million, and now their finances are under the microscope. dr. kelley, jill and her sister natalie were all directors of a cancer charity established to conduct research. but in a 2007 tax filing the charity showed the money raised was spent mostly on meals, entertainment and other categories. the former mayor of tampa says jill kelley would routinely invite her to parties. >> she is a social person. she is a person who likes to entertain. she's very generous with her entertaining. so she really enjoys having a party and having a lot of people invited to her home. >> friends say jill and her sister enlisted the military brass for personal help. natalie was in a bitter child

custody battle with her ex-husband. both general petraeus and general allen wrote to the court less than two months ago. general allen saying in part she is a dedicated mother, whose only focus is to provide the necessary support, love and care for her son. the judge awarded full custody to natalie's ex-husband and in the process called jill, quote, patently biased and an unbelievable witness. we tried to contact dr. kelley, his wife jill and her sister natalie. none was available for comment. savannah? >> kerry sanders in tampa this morning, thank you. now let's get a quick check of the weather. for that we turn to al. >> so, you know, yesterday we had one direction here, and we told people do not come because they are going to record some songs, and we'll play them back. these young ladies didn't hear that.

where are you guys from? >> lakeland. >> philadelphia. >> new jersey. >> so you're cutting school today. >> yeah. >> and where's -- your folks? >> over here. >> so you're going to take them back to school? >> no. >> wow, mom of the year! all right. i wish you had been my mom. all right. let's show you what we've got. it's chilly here in the northeast. look at the temperatures. we are talking about temperatures that are dropping anywhere from 10 to 15 degrees below normal. 49 atlanta. norfolk 12 below. new york city only in the mid to lower 40s, but out west it's going to be anywhere from 5 to 10 degrees above normal, as you see minneapolis nice and warm. look at those temperatures down in southern florida. in the 70s today. good morning. christina loren. time is 7:36. beautiful mid-level clouds.

pai a gorgeous day shaping up. winds still coming out of the east. temperatures will easily climb into the 70s. touch warmer than yesterday. 74 degrees in livermore. 71 degrees in san jose and san francisco. we are going to hold on to the 70s for one more day and then the heavy rain arrives on friday. >> and that's your latest weather. willie. >> all right, al. thank you very much. elmo puppeteer kevin clash has now been cleared of sexual misconduct allegations after his accuser admitted he was lying when he claimed the two had an affair while he was underage. nbc's mara schiavocampo is here with the very latest. mara, good morning. vindicated. he's the man behind one of "sesame street's" most cheerful

characters. puppeteer kevin clash was anything but happy about allegations of sexual misconduct with a minor. monday "sesame street" released a statement saying they had been contacted in june by a then 23-year-old man who alleged that he had a relationship beginning when he was 16 years old with kevin clash. "sesame street" said they found no evidence to support the claims. clash, a 52-year-old divorced father who is now openly gay, said the relationship began after the man turned 18. tuesday that accuser recanted. in a statement attorneys for the man said his sexual relationship with mr. clash was an adult consensual relationship. legal analyst lisa bloom. >> this allegation had all the ear marks of a false claim. the accuser did not go to the police. instead, he went to a civil attorney and raised a claim with "sesame street," clash's employer, which sounds like a

ploy for money, without any substantiation. >> do it again, here we go. >> reporter: for clash, featured in the 2011 documentary "being elmo," working on "sesame street" was a dream come true. >> everybody is here, yay! >> reporter: for more than 30 years clash has been more than elmo's voice, giving the little red monster his personality, catapulting elmo past big bird as the most popular muppet. >> elmo sure loves riding his tricycle. >> reporter: can you do a scratch of the head. >> reporter: he produces and directs for "sesame street" and has won 24 emmy awards for his work on the iconic children's show. >> to have all of this come out, even though it's not reportedly true, you can't take it back so it's sad. >> reporter: tuesday clash said he is relieved that this painful allegation has been put to rest. in "being elmo" he talked about facing adversity, words he'll almost be reflecting on. >> there will always be some type of obstacle in the way.

all of those things will go away if you really focus on what makes you happy. >> reporter: in their investigation "sesame street" did say clash had violated the company's internet policy and was disciplined for that. no word on when he'll be back at work and reunited with elmo. willie. >> as you say, that show would not be the same without him. thanks, mara. up next, is the fruit in your favorite breakfast foods really fruit? rossen reports after this. i'm out shipping these. smooth move. you used priority mail flat rate boxes. if it fits, it ships for a low, flat rate. paid for postage online and arranged a free pickup. and i'm gonna track them online, too. nice. between those boxes and this place, i'm totally staying sane this year. do i smell snickerdoodles? maybe. [ timer dings ] got to go. priority mail flat rate boxes. online pricing starts at $5.15. only from the postal service.

and there's juicy chicken best foods is the secret to making parmesan crusted chicken so juicy so delicious it's your secret to making dinner disappear best foods. bring out the best i put away money. i was 21, so i said, "hmm, i want to retire at 55." and before you know it, i'm 58 years old. time went by very fast. it goes by too, too fast. ♪ but i would do it again in a heartbeat. [ laughs ] ♪ ♪ with no added sugar, just one glass equals two servings of fruit.

very fruit-tritious. or, try ocean spray light 50, with just 50 calories, a full serving of fruit and no added sugar. with tasty flavors like cranberry-pomegranate and cranberry- concord grape, it's like a fruit stand in every bottle. just...you know... demonstrating how we blend the fruits. try all our tasty ocean spray 100% and light 50 juices.

some people put everything intotheir name on the door, and their heart into their community. small business saturday is a day to show our support. a day to shop at stores owned by our friends and neighbors. and do our part for the businesses that do so much for us. on november 24th, let's get out and shop small.

this morning on requests rossen reports," are some healthy looking foods really misleading you? this morning nbc national correspondent jeff rossen is here with that report. >> reporter: nobody thinks they are getting a full day's worth of fruit in a box of cereal but if the label shows fresh berries, shouldn't you at least be getting some fresh berries? experts say some of the biggest food companies are fooling you. the so-called berries, wait until you see what they are really made of. take a spin in the grocery store. it's like a berry bonanza. from your favorite breakfast foods. >> mini, meet ber is. >> reporter: to the popular energy drinks. >> vitamin water. >> reporter: even kid yogurt. >> danimals smoothies. >> reporter: labels grab you, real fruit, full of vitamins and many of us eat it up.

>> it gives the impression that it's healthier. >> blueberries in the cereal, that's great. get everything in one box. >> reporter: but some experts say it's a trim that food companies go a long way to fool you. take special k fruit and yogurt cereal. look at all those fresh berries on the front. but when you actually pour the cereal out you get something like this. looks like a real ber toe me. >> but it ain't. >> reporter: michael jacobson runs the center for science and public interest, a consumer watchdog group. are there any actual berries in here? >> no berries whatsoever. >> reporter: he says these berry imposters are in a lot of foods, like blueberry eggos and then there's aunt jemima's blueberry pancakes, the label xlams made with real blueberries but it's a catch. >> it has blueberry bits, and what is that, mostly sugar soybean oil and little bits of real blueberry that has been artificialically colored. >> reporter: that's right.

he says those blue chunks are actually that concoction shaped into balls and dyed to look like real berries. >> it's fake. >> reporter: if the companies were in this room they say we're printing the ingredients on the labeling, no misleading advertising here. >> you can't besiege people with print and pictures on the front of the label and give the correct answer on the back of the labels. >> reporter: shoppers say it's a rry bait switch. >> they are duping people. >> false advertising. it's dishonest. >> reporter: if consumers feel that way, why do companies still do it? we wanted to ask the group representing the food industry, but they declined our request for an on-camera interview. instead, sending us this e-mail saying we support laws requiring food labels to be truthful and non-misleading and say these labels are permitted under fda regulations. in fact, companies can show

whatever fruit they want, as long as they use this one little word, flavored on the label. >> so if you see the words flavored either natural or artificial, it could be a red flag that there's actually no fruit within that product. take these yogurts from dannon made for kids and pictures of fruit. guess how much fruit is in here? absolutely zero, and all of it is legal because of that word, flavored. >> the food and drug administration is asleep at the wheel. it rarely brings complaints against these companies. >> reporter: why? >> i suspect that the food and drug administration doesn't want to tangle with big companies who could keep them tied up in court for years. >> reporter: he says one of the trickiest, vitamin water. here's the kiwi-strawberry. >> we're suing coca-cola which owns vitamin water because there aren't any strawberries and there aren't any kis in here. >> reporter: what's in here? >> a lot of sugar. said bottle contains as much

sugar as a 12-ounce can of coca-cola. >> coca-cola is vehemently fighting the lawsuit there's nothing on the label of kiwa-strawberry vitamin water that would mislead a reasonable consum consumer. >> reporter: companies will make a lot more money implying there's berries in the product and not put them in there. they are saving a lot of money, but they are cheating consumers. >> reporter: the good companies told us some of the real fruit on the package is meant as a serving suggestion and they disclose it in small print. the fda says it does inspect labels and it's cracking down on companies that break the law, but the agency told us it's actually your responsibility to read the entire label and not just the front. these food companies, meanwhile, are saving a lot of money because real fruit very expensive, sugar and oil not. >> the temptation to say berry investigation is very overpowering. >> reporter: berry-gait. >> thanks, jeff.

coming up, we'll reveal "people" magazine's sexiest man alive, but first these messages. [ male announcer ] it's that time of year again.

time for citi price rewind. because your daughter really wants that pink castle thing. and you really don't want to pay more than you have to. only citi price rewind automatically searches for the lowest price. and if it finds one, you get refunded the difference. just use your citi card and register your purchase online. have a super sparkly day! ok. [ male announcer ] now all you need is a magic carriage. citi price rewind. buy now. save later. ♪ one for you. ♪ and one for me. ♪ you, you, you, you, you... test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test

♪ deals, deals, deals! breathe. ♪ one for you and one for guess who. ♪ ♪ it's on, it's on, it's on, ♪ it's black friday. ♪ i'm so super pumped for target black friday! ♪

i haven't thought about aspirin for years. aspirin wouldn't really help my headache, i don't think. aspirin is just old school. people have doubts about taking aspirin for pain. but they haven't experienced extra strength bayer advanced aspirin. in fact, in a recent survey, 95% of people who tried it agreed that it relieved their headache fast. what's different? it has micro-particles. enters the bloodstream fast and rushes relief to the site of pain. visit fastreliefchallenge.com today for a special trial offer. just ahead. today's professionals on actors and extreme weight loss for the sake of art. >> and the arrival of the

rockefeller plaza christmas tree. all that after your local news. are here... with some new ones to love. ♪ try new sugar free pumpkin spice... and pecan praline. the gift of great taste is just a click away. get your coupon at tastelift.coffee-mate.com. nestle. good food. good life. get your coupon at tastelift.coffee-mate.com. some people put everything intotheir name on the door, and their heart into their community. small business saturday is a day to show our support. a day to shop at stores owned by our friends and neighbors. and do our part for the businesses that do so much for us. on november 24th, let's get out and shop small. when the doctor told me that i could smoke

for the first week... i'm like...yeah, ok... little did i know that one week later i wasn't smoking. [ male announcer ] along with support, chantix is proven to help people quit smoking. it reduces the urge to smoke. some people had changes in behavior, thinking or mood, hostility, agitation, depressed mood and suicidal thoughts or actions while taking or after stopping chantix. if you notice any of these stop taking chantix and call your doctor right away. tell your doctor about any history of depression or other mental health problems, which could get worse while taking chantix. don't take chantix if you've had a serious allergic or skin reaction to it. if you develop these stop taking chantix and see your doctor right away as some can be life-threatening. if you have a history of heart or blood vessel problems, tell your doctor if you have new or worse symptoms. get medical help right away if you have symptoms of a heart attack. use caution when driving or operating machinery. common side effects include nausea, trouble sleeping and unusual dreams. it helps to have people around you... they say, you're much bigger than this. and you are. [ male announcer ] ask your doctor if chantix is right for you.

[ male announcer ] we all like things how we like them, even medicare drug plans. that's why walgreens pharmacists will help you find the plan that works for you. and now that we're a preferred pharmacy with four of the top medicare drug plans, you can save even more money on your prescriptions. no arguments here. stop by for your free walgreens medicare review by december 7th right here at the corner of happy and healthy.

we're for the individual. the food lover. the movie lover. the road tripper. and the music mentor. ♪ we're for the gamer. the play maker. the page turner. and the up-all-nighters. so when we set out to make a smart phone we didn't make one for all of us. we made one for each of us. new windows phone. reinvented around you. 7:56. good morning. i'm jon kelley. san francisco city hall expected to reopen this morning after an electrical fire late last night.

firefighters say an electrical panel started smoking and then activated the sprinkler system inside the basement. this is cell phone video taken by one of our producers on the scene that showed some of that water damage there inside. the building was not evacuated but power was cut off to text tearer lights and including the big dome on city hall. pg&e crews were on the scene working hard late last might and no word yet on what, if anything, was damaged. right now let's check outside. christina loren says a couple of nice days before the rain comes rushing in. >> yes. dry days are numbered at this point, jon. good morning to you. temperatures are cool to start. we are going to hit the 70s. very close to a record for this afternoon. 47, jumped up in livermore. sun out for an hour now. your winds presented only namtly coming out of the east, good news. offshore flow continues for today. we will likely hit the highs. 74 degrees in liver mob. 72 in fremont. 71 in san francisco. changes just around the corner,

though. look what happens friday through the remainder of your extended forecast. lot of rain on the way. looks like friday, the heaviest showers will come down right in time for your morning commute. check your commute with mike. >> we do have one. north 101. underneath 680 and 880. we show you the map because it is much worse than that. we are going northbound 101. that's towards the 880 interchange where there is an accident north of there. clearing to the shoulder also looks like a stall happened north 280 north of the 101 interchange. we are looking overall at that 85 and bottom of your screen. 87 into downtown. southbound 880 problem coming out of hayward through fremont. recovering nicely after the early accident long since cleared. peninsula, there it is. not for southbound 101. whack to you. >> lot of red out there. all right. thank you very much. we will have another local update in one half-hour from now.

8:00 now on this wedne8:00s. it's the 14th of november, 2012. a beautiful day here in rockefeller plaza. it is beginning to look a lot more like christmas this morning. we have the arrival of the rockefeller christmas tree. we're going to really welcome it in just a few moments. good morning everyone. we say hello to the crowd. i'm savannah guthrie. willie geist and al roker. weave a lot coming up this half hour, including today's professionals and dr. nancy. we'll talk about hot topics. >> in an interview on this show a couple years ago that solved a baffling medical mystery. we'll talk to a young woman and her father about an interview on this show that changed her life. >> coming up, we'll also take a look at one of the most creatively brutal restaurant reviews i have ever seen taking

on guy seer i's restaurant. it is stunning in creativity and it's firebombing, this restaurant. >> apparently one star is just not good enough. this guy really goes to bat. >> it's all posed in the form of questions. >> questions. >> get to that in a little bit. but first, we want to welcome billie jordan to unveil the sexiest man alive. i can't stand the spends. >> the amazing channing tatum. >> channing tatum? >> okay. >> see, they approve. he's the triple threat this year. there was the romance in vow, the comedy with 21 jump street and that magic mike stripper. take off his clothes. he's from alabama. from my home state. he's a good 'ol boy. he's got heart and he loves his wife and ready to be a daddy. >> what was his reaction to be

crowned sexiest man alive? >> he thought we were messing with him. completely didn't believe it. it's like what? >> wow. >> you look at the pages. he's astonishingly gorgeous. >> you look at the other guys. including chill guy. among those john hamm. >> we asked these guys what their idea of a good time is. it was a matter of him saying doing nothing. when he's 60, he'll be pretty much i am mobile. >> you got hot dogs. men and their dogs. >> they love their animals. ryan gosling is in there with his pup. jake gyllenhaal. they like their pooches. >> there's talk of a gosling -- >> got him in there. this wasn't his year. in the future, you're going to see it. >> some year, we hope it's ryan's year. >> one of our favorites around here, oscar pistorius.

he made your men of the year guy. >> he has so many fans around the world. lost his legs and he will succeed at anything he tries. >> i did an interview with him at the olympics and he was mobbed by many of the women in the staff. >> they love him. >> matt and willie. >> this is hysterical. >> several of the "today" show men. >> matt and willie are -- >> several. that's two. >> matt and himself and willie, this is the sex appeal right here. >> hey. just the way we scripted it. >> worked out well. >> look at that. >> al, maybe next year. >> got about 8,000 men in there. i still can't come close to these men. >> sexy men. >> next year. i promise. >> thanks. >> thank you. >> let's head over to natalie morales at the news did he say be. good morning. >> good morning, savannah, willie and al. leon panetta is standing by the

top u.s. commander in afghanistan. panetta said people should not jump to conclusions about general john allen about sending possible inappropriate e-mail correspondence with a woman. that same woman is linked to the sex scandal with david petraeus. president obama will likely face questions about the scandal at his news conference today. nbc news will have live coverage at 1:30 p.m. eastern time. a house committee begins maergs today on the nationwide meningitis outbreak and how it may have been -- many people have been sickened by it. 32 deaths reported. in a background report this week, congressional investigators said the fda wanted to halt production at the pharmacy a decade ago. but deferred to state regulators. anti-virus software mogul john mcafee says he will not turn

himself in to police in belize where he's named in the shooting death of a neighbor. too many people have died in police custody in that country. mcafee also says he had nothing do with the killing. now looking at what's trendsing. our roundup of what has you talking online. a shocking medical story featured in today's health is going viral online. pran on fire is the story of a young writer hospitalized for sudden bizarre behavior and symptoms of insanity. we'll hear from emily coming up live shortly. vice president biden's upcoming appearance on parks and recreation is not his first cameo. this vintage clip from the '90s show where in the world is carmen san diego. >> senator joe biden here. >> hey, senator. >> i propose a congressional resolution naming you the best detective of the year. >> why, thank you, sir. >> well, meanwhile the vice president star turn on parks and rec airs tomorrow night here on

nbc. and as you heard, a food fight simmering online over a mocking review of guy fear i's new restaurant. if he ever has eaten there and whether panic gripped his soul if he did. he also asks why his margarita tasted like a combination of formaldehyde and radiator fluid and why the marshmallows tasted like fish. that is a roasting. 8:06 right now. let's go back to al with a check of your weather. >> today's weather is brought to you by foelgers. the best part of waking up is folger's in your cup. guy is going to shake that off. he's going to shake it off. we've got nice friends hanging out. i like the hat. where are you from? >> from howell, new jersey. >> that's fitting with that hat. >> do you howl? >> yes, we do. >> give me a howl.

>> howl! >> our pick city of the day. orlando, florida. wesh, channel 2. partly sunny, few showers, 80 degrees. as we look at the satellite, not much going on. a few showers off the florida coastline. wet weather down through the lower mississippi river valleyment some showers and know showers back into pacific northwest. otherwise, a beautiful day through the southwest. a little on the chilly side here in the northeast. on the breezy side and some rain down to the southeastern atlantic coast into the 8:07 on a wednesday morning. hard to tell we have a lot of rain on the way to the bay area. not just yet, but tomorrow night. beautiful clear conditions will prevail for today. 72 in santa treeresa. friday and saturday, things start to change. we have two systems on the way. the first one will bring heavy rain at times on friday. the colder system moves through sunday into monday.

and that's your latest weather. willie? >> al, thank you very much. coming up next, today ease professionals weigh in as black friday creeps into the thanksgiving holiday. what do you think about it? we'll hear from the gang right after this. we'll hear from the gang, right after this. wanna see me get some great deals? it's a new way to get cash back deals, and it's called bankamerideals! i sign into my online banking... click the "cash back deals tab"... and pick the deals i want. i just use my bank of america debit or credit card when i pay,

and then i get up to 15% cash back -- put into my account. ♪ i know, right? [ male announcer ] introducing bankamerideals, free for online banking customers. sign into your online banking to choose your deals today. ♪ ♪

[ girl ] dear santa... ♪ dear santa, i want a ballerina tutu, a pink bike, a unicorn night-light... [ female announcer ] this year, bring their wish list to life. [ girl ] ...princess doll, markers... just four ingredients is all we use from the seed, to the spoon. every flake, genuine, true. kellogg's. start simple. start right. kellogg's. one is for a clean, wedomestic energy future that puts us in control. our abundant natural gas is already saving us money, producing cleaner electricity, putting us to work here in america and supporting wind and solar.

though all energy development comes with some risk, we're committed to safely and responsibly producing natural gas. it's not a dream. america's natural gas... putting us in control of our energy future, now. onof chocolate lovers from the thmelting point of chocolate. so when you take hershey's chocolate and add bubbles, it deliciously melts the moment you take a bite. hershey's air delight. it just might make you melt. back now at 8:11 with "today's professionals" and our team of power players itching to tackle today's headlines, star jones, donny deutsch and filling in for dr. sniderman padmi lakshmi. welcome. let's start with the scandal

involving not only general detrace but general allen as well. one case of extramarital affair and then inappropriate e-mails between general allen and jill kelley. do you think this is disqualifying for people who hold high office? >> why did you look at me? a, when are we going to be surprised when men of power, when conquerers, heads of states, great athletes also chase women? mean, can i give you an argument that actually goes with the profile of the person, and i'm going to say it this way. would you rather have a general who is competent who may be a philanderer versus a competent -- incompetent general who is tried and true? it doesn't matter anymore. it doesn't matter, guys. >> i don't think those two are mutually exclusive. more importantly i don't care. i feel icky talking about it on

national television. general petraeus is universally a great leader. he has put himself in harm's way, served his country. his wife has sacrificed a lot to be an army wife. i think it's their business. it's between them. >> let me play devil's advocate because adultery is a crime under the uniform code of military conduct. >> that's one, and i also have a little bit of an issue when the cia director can't figure out how to keep his side piece secret. if you can't keep your side secret how can you keep other secrets? i'm a little concerned about his judgment. >> that's a little bit different. >> that's not different. >> we have to stop and accept it if 55% of the country sun faithful when you put high-profile people, people by nature who are -- it's going to be drawn to them. >> you weren't surprised at all? >> let's just grow up already. >> whether he cheated or not to me is irrelevant. >> thank you. >> i think, look, if i am suspected of stealing your tv and there's a search warrant and

the police come to my house to see if there's that tv, and whether there is or not in, that process they see that my kitchen is really dirty and then those officers talk about it, why are they talking about it, it's irrelevant. >> they are human beings. >> the media has seized upon it. hungry and juicy stories. >> you may make a judgment call, but you think it doesn't matter, but if the rules are it does matter. >> thank you. >> if the law says adultery is a crime under military law, shouldn't these folks be able to -- >> if the law exists, then you have to adhere to the law. >> infidelities, when it comes to ceos, when it comes to presidents, do their jobs. that's what i care about. >> i was a little surprised. i never knew that four-star generals had groupies. this was a little bit of a shock to me to see that there were women out there who real dego after these kind of men >> i heard him speak publically, and i've also met petraeus' wife, and he is very learned and

very charismatic, and there's something about -- >> power. >> there's something about someone who has achieved something in life. >> power. women are drawn to power. >> next topic, we are stalling it starving artist and i think these pictures of a couple of actors who have lost a dramatic amount of weight for their roles has caught the eyes of a lot. matthew mcconaughey will be playing somebody with aids and we saw ann hath away in "less if mis," and we show the pictures and they are astonishing to look at. do you think actors are going too far if they lose this amount of weight? what the heck, they are adults. >> their body, their business. as an actor your body is your instrument in how you communicate whatever you're trying to communicate from the script and also it is a physical act. we gave robert de niro an oscar for doing it in "raging bull." i don't see this as any

different. >> it's really the entertainment media that's highlighting this weight loss. these two actors are doing their craft. they are actually doing their job. the entertainment media is trying to make it into something that it's not. >> donny doesn't care. >> i kind of agree with donny, i don't care. >> we're out of time because we talked so much -- just saying. okay. star jones, donny deutsch, padmi lakshmi, thank you so much. >> thank you. coming up next, an interview on "today" that helped solve one girl's medical mystery. right after this. ♪ spread a little love today

♪ spread a little love my way ♪ spread a little something to remember ♪ on "today" that helped solve one ♪ spread a little joy and see ♪ need a little happiness to be ♪ ♪ living the life with me [ female announcer ] philadelphia cream cheese. made with fresh milk and real cream. it makes your holiday recipes, everyone's holiday favorites. ♪ just four ingredients is all we use from the seed, to the spoon. every flake, genuine, true. kellogg's. start simple. start right. and there's juicy chicken best foods is the secret to making parmesan crusted chicken so juicy so delicious it's your secret to making dinner disappear best foods. bring out the best

with no added sugar, just one glass equals two servings of fruit. very fruit-tritious. or, try ocean spray light 50, with just 50 calories, a full serving of fruit and no added sugar. with tasty flavors like cranberry-pomegranate and cranberry- concord grape, it's like a fruit stand in every bottle. just...you know... demonstrating how we blend the fruits. try all our tasty ocean spray 100% and light 50 juices.

some people put everything intotheir name on the door, and their heart into their community. small business saturday is a day to show our support. a day to shop at stores owned by our friends and neighbors. and do our part for the businesses that do so much for us. on november 24th, let's get out and shop small. back now at 8:19 with the remarkable story of two people connected by a rare autoimmune disease that attacks the brain. "the new york post" writer suzannia cahalian was here to talk about her condition that led to manic behavior. luckily the family of emily got gan was watching. >> i remember clearly that it was early 2009 in january when emily went from being that very

happy-go-lucky person who seemingly had the world at her feet. she was a sophomore in college and all of a sudden a complete change in her personality. she started to act strangely to us. we noticed right away that there was something terribly wrong. >> 19-year-old emily became increasingly paranoid. >> i thought trucks were following me and people were out to get me, and i ended up checking myself into the emergency room and then to a psychiatric hospital. >> after that stay they actually told us that they didn't really have a diagnosis but they were leaving towards schizophrenia. they said she's never going to be able to work. never going to be able to go back to school. my sister, who lives in wayne, pennsylvania, called me at work one morning and said i saw this incredible young woman named suzanna who was on the "today" show this morning and has this terrible disease that sounds

exactly like what emily has been going through. >> i think that there are so many people out there. who knows how many people out there are suffering interest what i suffered from and are not getting the diagnosis that they need. >> after watching the "today" segment and reading more about suzanna's story her parents told her psychiatry about the disease, anti-ndrr encephalitis but doctors didn't see the condition. a year after emily went to the hospital she could no longer walk or talk. >> she got a blood clot in her brain and became critical. she was dying. i remembered the article that suzanna had written in the "the new york post" and i handed it to them and i asked them to test emily. i said would you please test her for this. and it was about an hour later that they put her on a helicopter and took her to the university of pennsylvania to be treated by the same doctor that determined what was wrong with suzanna and to save her life.

>> emily was on her way to a life-saving treatment just in the nick of time. emily and bill are here with us this morning along with suzanna author of the new book "brain on fire, my month of madness." good morning to you all. >> good morning. >> emily, how are you feeling? >> i'm feeling great. i'm back in school and will be finished in december and i'm 100% better. >> watching some of that video footage in that piece when you're in the hospital. do you recognize that person? do you remember any of that? >> obviously the ventilator, stuff i don't remember but it looks like a completely different person. like i feel like i'm watching somebody else. >> how did you put the pieces together then afterwards? how did you remember what happened? >> a lot of -- my dad and his notes and my family just telling me what happened. i do remember some of it, but most of it is just completely gone. >> bill, you sent a star by all accounts on the way to college,

on the dean's list and had a boyfriend and came home at what point and what did you notice? >> i noticed that she was not herself. she went very quickly to being paranoid and just speaking rapidly and just -- just could tell something was off kilter. >> was the frustration of knowing i don't know what to do with this. this is not something i can identify quickly? >> yeah. we took her to a doctor because it rapidly got worse, so we took her to a doctor right away, and, you know, they thought it was some sort of mental health issue and started to treat her as such, with different mood stabilizers, that sort of thing, but she progressively got worse. >> and suzanna, tell me about the phone call you then get from bill one day. did it come completely out of the blue? did you know anything about their story. >> actually at work at the "new york post," and i got a phone call, and i hear my name, is this suzanna and it was bill on the other line and he told me the story about emily, and it just -- what an amazing

experience. >> you called it one of the most life affirming moments of your life. why do you say that? >> you get into journalism to help people, and when you hear that you went through such a horrible experience and ended up helping someone, there's nothing better than that. >> what do you see today in your daughter now that you've come so far with her? >> i'm just extremely proud because we can't know what these two went through with this disease, but i'm very proud of the way emily approached her recovery. it wasn't easy. it was very difficult. she had to relearn everything. she had to relearn how to walk, talk, use a toothbrush, the things that we take for granted, and susannah went through a very similar experience, proud of susannah to being able to articulate this originally, come on the "today" show. not long after she had gone through this terrible ordeal herself, and it was just amazing that we were -- my sister mary had seen the "today" show that morning and brought it together. you know, it took a little bit

of time for us to convince the doctors to go this direction, but, you know, thanks to susannah that emily sits here right now. >> watching the three of you sit here together over the last several minute and it's clear to me that there's a bond. you're holding hands at some point. how do you feel about susannah. >> suusannah, i'm just so thankful for her. if she hadn't been here i probably wouldn't be here, and the way we can relate about what we've gone through, too, is really important to me. >> susannah, why do you want to be so out front about this? a lot of people would push this to the side and get on with their lives. you put out a book. >> this is exactly right. she's sitting here now. i touched her life and she touched me and that's the reason why you do something like this. >> we're so happy to see you both here healthy. emily, susannah, dad, you've got a good

good wednesday morning. 8:26. i'm laura garcia-cannon. there are new charges this morning against the prime suspect of the kidnapping and murder of sierra lamar. the investigative unit confirmed that the d.a. added three charges against antolin garcia torres unrelated to the disappearance of lamar. it accuses antolin garcia torres of attempting kidnapping in march of 2009. the victims, three other young women. garcia torres is expected to be in court to be arraigned on the new charges. we will look at the morning commute with mike right now. >> oakland north 880 and things are jamming up around the coliseum. it is a steady flow here and pass into downtown. that is why you see the slowing there. north 580 at foothill. the earlier accident is cleared.

getting crowded north of the warren freeway. the southbound side is slow through hayward. an accident cleared from the southbound side. northbound at dakota. and the northbound route is steady with slower speeds. back to you. thank you. i'll have another local news update in a half hour. hope to see you then.

s. 8:30 now this wednesday northern. it's the 14th of november, 2012, and it is fair to say we are in the holiday spirit because we are in the back of a 115-foot flatbed truck hauling the rockefeller center christmas tree where it will soon be perched right over there, lit on november 28th. >> that's right. >> and we are really looking forward to it. >> yeah. this is an 80-foot tree, and a little extra special this year. >> reporter: it withstood

hurricane sandy. >> what would christmas be without santa? >> hi, santa. >> how is it going? >> i love this tree. i love the smell of spruce in the morning. you know, it brings the holiday spirit right here to new york city from the good friends over in new jersey, really gone through a blast here the last few weeks. >> really need the holiday. >> brought some north pole weather. tell you what. better than the warm weather you had the other day. >> are you ready for the holiday? >> absolutely ready. just opened it at radio city music hall last night so we're very excited about that. >> the 85th anniversary. >> 85 years. >> spectacular. >> we've been dancing in new york. >> and you need some visitors. >> you don't look a day over 85 and a half and a half. >>tweaking the list, on balance have the girls and boys been naughty or nice? >> glad you said that rather than good or bad.

i would have to say the boys are a little bit more on the naughty list. >> santa. >> i'm working on it. >> as soon as natalie got up here she told you she has been nice. is that true? >> it is true. >> extra presents in my stocking. >> but we'll talk about you a little bit later. >> santa, the holidays such a special time here in new york city. what do you think makes it so amazing coming here and seeing this tree? >> well, this tree is part of it. it's the whole rockefeller plaza radio city music hall, the spirit that people come to new york from all over the world to experience christmas here, and that's why i love coming here. there's no place it in the world. >> this got started during the great depression, this tree. >> sure did. >> going through some tough times. this is really in a sense a beacon, not just for the country but the world. >> absolutely it is. it's a rejuvenation of the times that have passed and the times that are in the future. >> and we should mention the

radio city christmas spectacular begins tomorrow. we have to get this tree down right after your weather forecast. >> luckily we've got the fine folks here who are going to put this up as they have so many years going on into this. let's show you what we've got weather-wise. starting with today, a gorgeous day in the east. a little on the chilly side. we're looking for temperatures that are going to be into the 40s. we've got 50s along the mid-atlantic coast. look for some showers making their way through the pacific northwest. mountain snows as well, and then for tomorrow look for some rain in the pacific northwest. i should say in the southeast. we're going to have beautiful weather in the pacific northwest with plenty of sunshine. evening showers coming into california. sunny and cold through the plains and plenty of sunshine but chilly weather conditions into the northeast. that's what's going on 8:33 on a wednesday morning. good morning. i'm meteorologist christina loren. just a beautiful day. look at san francisco. no fog to report. beautiful partly cloudy

conditions and high mid-level clou clouds. offshore flow will clear the clouds out in the afternoon. temperatures will be warm. 74 in livermore. 72 in redwood city. 72 in san jose and san francisco. rain moves in late tomorrow and continues through tuesday. >> and coming up november 28th, we are going to light this beautiful tree up. christmas in rockefeller center, wednesday, november 28th, 8:00. it all starts at 8:00. tree gets lit about 8:55. savannah, i get lit at 8:58. >> boom. >> every year. >> 7:58 this year. let's say hello to chris tucker. he stars in the new movie "silver linings playbook." chris, good morning to you. >> good morning. >> we've all seen the movie, all loved it, and there's some serious side to this movie, but you really add the touch of humor to it. >> yeah, it's a fun part. it's a great part because i get to show a serious side of myself but the character is fun, a lot

of depth, and a lot of character. >> what's if like standing there in a scene with robert de niro? we asked this of bradley cooper. like a young actor it's like watching mickey mantle play baseball and then go play alongside him. >> all the famous movies he's done. it's great, it's great, and a little nervous sometimes when you mess up your lines. it's like he's okay. do it again. >> do it again. >> invited me to his trailer and gave me the godfather thing. take your time, don't worry, you know. it will be all right. you're going to be all right. >> thank you. >> what about the "rush hour" movie, so well known for those. >> thank you. >> is that coming back? >> we want to do another one. jackie and i talk all the time so hopefully we get another one. >> fans want. it looking forward to it. >> bring it. >> we really love to roll. this is a great movie, and you're going to be with kathie lee and hoda a little bit later. >> are you ready for it?

>> i'm ready for it. >> "silver linings playbook" opens in select theaters on friday and nationwide on november 21st. coming up next, the fonz, henry wrinkler, returns to broadway in a role you might not expect, but, first, this is "today" on nbc.

back now at 8:38 with a romantic comedy that officially opens on broadway tonight called "the performers" starring henry winkler. "today's" correspondent jamie gangel joins us. >> reporter: he was cool then and cool now but henry winkler has come a long way since "happy days" made him a household name, and lucky for us he's back on broadway in a role written just for him. what's the best thing about -- try to walk down the street with

henry winkler, and you won't get very far. >> can we get a picture with you. >> reporter: at 67 the beloved acting legend known for creating the iconic fonz. >> hey. >> reporter: is still stopped by fans wherever he goes. >> love your show. >> thank you. >> reporter: and these days it's broadway just below the marquee for "the performers." there you are, henry. >> too much of me. too much of me. >> reporter: a risque but sweet comedy where he stars as a character you have never seen him play before. >> porn star, adult film star. >> right. >> and you play mr. chuck woods. >> yes. >> reporter: who is. >> hard working, and the play really is based on the academy award night for the adult film industry. >> reporter: right. >> the beginning. everybody said oh, my goodness, you're in a play about porn and,

you know, i said, really, it is a play about the heart. >> reporter: co-starring cheyenne jackson and alicia silverstone "the performers" has previewed audiences roaring with laughter and though he pretends otherwise winkler knows his character was written just for him by 29-year-old phenom playwright david west reed. he wrote this part for glue is that true? no. >> reporter: he said his dream was for you to play it. >> first time i'm hearing that fact, i'm not kidding, in my whole life. i am now deeply touched. i don't know what to do. >> reporter: here is a quote. >> okay. >> reporter: he said there is some sort of sadistic pleasure in getting henry winkler to say these filthy things because he's so sweet. he's like everyone's uncle. he's not precious about his iconic status, and he's willing

to laugh at himself. >> i'm just going to take that and put that in my scrapbook, if you don't mind. i like that. >> reporter: winkler is being modest, and he is getting rave reviews. >> look, i don't care if you're a porn star or whatever else it is that people do for a living. >> reporter: even while he's adjusting to his racy lines. you say some things did you ever imagine you would say? >> never, never. i would be arrested if i said it off this stage. >> reporter: so you walk on the stage. >> yes. >> reporter: and i heard. >> hey. >> reporter: for a lo-- >> for a long time i said hey, and it sounds like hey, so i change it had to come on because i'm a clever guy. >> reporter: you didn't use the "f" word. >> oh, you mean the fonz. let me just tell you, this is how great the fonz is.

he came to see this play the first preview. >> reporter: he did? >> he sat right out there. >> reporter: what did he think of the play? >> he said to me. >> reporter: yeah. >> i'm -- i'm just saying it's a hit. >> reporter: you're the wise old man in the end. >> can i just say wise. can we just say wise? do we have to bring up -- >> reporter: guess that means you don't want me to say aging porn star either. >> i didn't want that either. >> reporter: experienced. >> experienced. >> reporter: yes. experienced and perhaps the busiest star on broadway. in addition to this play. >> yes. >> reporter: you are writing 23 books. >> yes. >> reporter: you are on three television shows right now. >> that is shocking. >> reporter: why are you working so hard? >> i love every minute of my life. i truly believe the most important thing for a human being is to be relevant. >> reporter: you love working? >> i love -- i dreamt about it.

i still can't get over that i do this. >> reporter: whatever you do, they keep loving you. >> amazing. amazing. >> reporter: well, congratulations. full disclosure, henry winkler is an old friend. that said, the play is laugh out loud funny, as we like to say, run, do not walk to see "the performers," and willie, a little secret. if you sit in just the right seat in the theater a member of the audience gets a hug, sometimes even a kiss, from henry winkler. he is fabulous. >> all the more reason to go see it. the fonz still got t.jamie gangel. >> he does. >> thanks. up next, jeremy renner on preparing to make his "snl" debut this

back now at 8:46 with oscar nominee jeremy rubber very busy at the becomes office starring in "mission impossible," the aventioners" and now he's trading in the big screen for "saturday night live" and hosting the show for the first time. a little nervousness when i say that? >> excitement more than nervousness. i don't know enough to be nervous. >> are you a fan of "snl," find you on saturday night in your pjs, popcorn? >> if i can't make it i tivo it or something. >> any considered what you're going to do this weekend yet? >> no. make a jerk of myself probably. that's the plan, and probably why i wanted to do it. >> you do have to be ready to shed your inhibitions to do this show. that comes easily? >> i don't know if it's easy. sort of kind of part of a job but i'm surrounded by tremendous actors and writers that, you

know, pick up the slack, you know. >> have you put in any requests with the writers? i really want to do "x" or i like this character? >> no really. i didn't want to come in with preconceived ideas. they know what they are doing. i'll fit into what they are doing, unless it's completely ridiculous or something and i can't do it, but, yeah, i'm excited to do it. it's a blessing. >> do you have any special talents that we might see? i heard you're a musician. >> yeah, yeah. i can -- i can do a little bit here and there, but i'm not sure what we'll be doing on the show. you'll have to watch. >> yeah. we'll definitely be watching. it's kind of, i would think, a rite of passage to be asked to host "snl" if you need any more signs that you've made it. this has to be one of them. >> it's a huge one. >> yeah. >> it's a huge one. i have a lot of friends who have done it, and to overcome the terror and the idea of doing things live is a great obstacle to overcome. >> well, we'll look forward to saturday night and see what you do. >> thanks. >> you also have a movie coming

up, i've got "hansel and gettel." >> that comes out. >> watched the trail they are morning. it's not a fairy tale. it looks a little scarey. >> i don't know if it's scarey. >> gory. >> it's a good fun ride. it's gory but it doesn't take itself too seriously. you can wink at it. it's a lot of fun, but, you know, you'll have to go see it. >> the head-butting that we just saw. >> i didn't do it. >> and then you were just in "the bourne legacy" and last time were you here you had talked about that. was it a life-changer, the whole experience that you thought it might be? >> well, the series of the last movies from "mission" and "avengers" was not really gone unseen by a few people so "the bourne legacy" was a wonderful experience, and we'll see what happens and what the future holds. >> jeremy renner, great to talk to you. >> yeah. >> we'll see you across the street, "saturday night live" saturday night. >> i'll be there. >> and if people don't know by

now, 11:30 eastern and 10:30 central time. >> yeah, watch it. >> right here on nbc. coming up next, the story behind this year's rock plaza christmas tree. but first, this is "today" on nbc.

this morning, the rockefeller center christmas tree that just pulled in a few minutes ago on its arrival in

new jersey. mike leonard got to meet the family who gave us this tree. >> reporter: in recent weeks the airwaves have been filled with a descending torrent of not so gentle reminders that all of us are vulnerable to forces beyond our control. this is northern new jersey in the calm before the storm, like a water color viewed from afar, there is a soft focused perception of balance and order in the brightly huge splashes and the hazy glowing allure of whatever lies ahead. only when moving closer do we notice the rough brush strokes of our less than perfect existence, the naturgnarled fac the bent limbs of miss fortune and loss and also survival. to rise above the challenges, to weather the storms. isn't that our nature? isn't that our story? >> i come here not speaking --

not even speaking the language. i come here very, very poor, and no education and i still survived >> reporter: who did you know in america? >> nobody. >> reporter: how much money did you have? >> not a single penny. >> reporter: not a penny. >> not a penny. >> 76-year-old joe balcu of flanders, new jersey, is a hungarian immigrant and owner of the property where this year's rockefeller center christmas tree was discovered. the tree always comes from somebody's yard, somebody who would never be considered interesting enough for a television audience were it not for their tree. what would you want people to know about you, like, you know, joe from hungary, joe the immigrant, joe the gas station owner? >> that's a good question what would people want to know about me. i don't know. i really don't know what people want to know about me. just i'm a person who comes to this country and kind of succeed

in his life, and he's part of the american dream >> reporter: american dream, rooted in a place with freedom to grow in any direction. joe balku, a divorced father of one, bought this new jersey house and the surrounding land in 1973 with money earned from the nearby gas station that he owned, an amazing accomplishment given his humble roots as a farm boy in rural hungary. the 1956 hungarian revolution, brutally suppressed by soviet tanks and troops, triggered a mass exodus of hungarians to all corners of the world. 20-year-old joe fled to america where he has lived a quiet productive existence under the shade of a huge norway spruce that like him went unnoticed until its recent discovery. now that tree will be seen by millions, a gift to america from an average citizen, an everyday joe, an army veteran, a gas station owner and a grateful son

who eventually brought his now deceased hungarian mother and father to live with him in america. what do you think your parents would have thought of this tree going to rockefeller center? >> my father would be happy. >> reporter: happy for the young man who arrived with nothing, only to leave us with a contribution of immense proportions. >> we make our own destination in life. that's my feeling. >> reporter: for "today," mike leonard, nbc news, flanders, new jersey. >> and joe balku is with us now. so great to see you and so grateful you shared this beautiful tree with us. why was it important and meaningful to you to bring it to rockefeller center? >> well, i felt, if we bring it here everybody will see the tree all over new york and all over the world. >> reporter: and it withstood a lot through sandy. how did you keep it up? through the storm? >> the big tree. >> survived the storm very well.

a and. >> we'll light it november 28th. i bet you'll be here. thank you so much for the tree.

good wednesday morning. 8:56. i'm laura garcia-cannon. not an official holiday, but day of celebration for skiers and snowboard snowboarders. heavenly opens today and so does northstar. kirkwood and squaw valley open next week. more snow headed our week later this week. christine. maybe 2 to 3 feet above 7,000 feet. plenty of 70s across the bay area. we will cool off a touch into thursday and the rain moves in thursday night. heavy rain on friday.

colder system sunday into monday. hope you have a great day. [ laughter ] [ girl ] wow, you guys have it easy. i wish i had u-verse when i was your age. in my day, we didn't have these fancy wireless receivers. blah blah blah. if i had a sleepover, i couldn't just move the tv into the playroom. no. we had to watch movies in the den because that's where the tv outlet was. and if dad was snoring on the couch, we muscled through it. is she for real? your generation has it made. [ male announcer ] the wireless receiver only from at&t u-verse. get a free wireless receiver with a qualifying u-verse plan. rethink possible.

back now with more of "today" on this wednesday, november 14th, 2012 and a bit of a chilly morning here in rockefeller plaza and that means only one thing. the holidays are a-coming and it's official. >> they are a-coming. >> the tree is here just arrived across the street from us. a firsthand look at that this morning. i'm willie geist with savannah guthrie and al roker this morning. coming up this hour, we're going to talk about this ever widening it seems scandal that has wrapped up and cost the job of cia director general petraeus. a serious story with a lot of serious questions, but also giving a lot of fodder to late-night comics. take a look at that coming up in a little bit and we'll joined by a man who will be fully retrained talking about this scandal, seth mitchell. >> laugh, don't cry, i guess is the answer there, and elegant, refined and practical. we are, of course, talking about willie -- no, the little black dress. >> yes.

>> the lbd. andre has written an entire book about it and tells us why this is such a staple of women's fashion and such a great book to look through. we'll talk to him coming up. >> and, of course, if you watched us yesterday, were you here for the spectacle that was one direction. well, the five boys from britain did us a favor and recorded a couple of songs and left them for us, and we're going to share those with you later on in this hour. >> can't get enough. >> all right. first "twilight" fever is about to hit a fever pitch as "guy light, breaking dawn part 2" opens up this weekend. joining us now is one of the stars. >> here, get this jacket, man. >> i know. i'm feeling -- i get confused. i think i'm still in l.a. >> exactly. >> it's cold even for a vampire. >> it really is. this is the last in the series. this has really been a huge phenomenon. what's it like to say good-bye to it? i know you were at the premiere.

>> very bittersweet. very not vic, looking at the actors on the red carpet. been four years of this and saying good-bye to the fans, but it was a treat at the same time. >> on a personal level have you thought about what this has meant to your life, not just your career but obviously it's changed your life this, series. >> if i had to sum it up in one word it would be family. i had this great family on camera, great family off camera with the cast and the fans as a family, too. grown with us the last four or five years. seeing the fans over and over. oh, you cut your hair this year, got to know them. >> took your 15-year-old daughter to the screening and she cried. >> my daughter cried at the end. it's really powerful, the ending, and it's a little different from the book so i'm excited for the fans to see it. >> i saw the movie. it's great. great to have you here, congratulations. >> thank you very much. >> congrats to you. >> "twilight breaking dawn part 2" opens on friday. now a check of the other top stories of the morning. natalie morales is over at news

desk. natalie, good morning. >> good morning to you, savannah and good morning, everyone. defense secretary leon panetta is standing behind general john allen, the top u.s. commander in afghanistan and the latest military official to get caught in the widening scandal following general david petraeus' resignation. allen faces allegations that he may have exchanged, quote, inappropriate correspondence with jill kelley, a florida socialite whose complaint of e-mail harassment from petraeus' alleged lover brought the whole scandal to light. allen had been set to replace petraeus in afghanistan, but his nomination is now on hold amid the widening investigation into the affair. the scandal's likely to come up at president obama's news conference today. nbc news will have live coverage at 1:30 p.m. eastern time. a house committee beginnings hearings today on the nationwide meningitis outbreak and how it might have been prevented. officials say about 440 people have been sickened by contaminated steroid shots from a massachusetts pharmacy. more than 30 deaths have been

reported in a background report this week. congressional investigators say the fda wanted to halt production at that pharmacy a decade ago but deferred to state regulators. the senate beat tuesday's deadline and approved a cost of living increase for nearly 4 million disabled veterans. it provides a 1.7% monthly benefits increase or about $500 for the year. the normal routine measure was held up for weeks by partisan politics. illinois congressman jesse jackson, jr., has left the mayo clinic where he was treated for bipolar disorder for the second time since taking a leave of absence in june. jackson was re-elected for another term even though he barely campaigned. jackson is still under investigation by a house committee about his dealings with imprisoned form are governor rob blagojevich. the woman at the center of the deadly indianapolis explosion says a recently replaced thermostat was the cause of that blast.

investigators seer ode in on a possible faulty furnace as a source. the man accusing elmo puppeteer kevin clash of engaging him in an underage sexual relationship has now dropped his allegations and says their relationship was adult and consensual. clash had denied that the relationship began when the accuser was underage from the start but took a leave of absence from sesame workshop to fight the allegations. actor michael j. fox is spreading holiday warmth and cheer in this new gap ad that is going viral. it shows fox in a loving embrace with his wife tracy pollan proving they have still got it after 24 years of marriage and looking good at that. five minutes after the hour right now. let's go back to al with a check of your weather. >> let's see what we've got for you. some chilly conditions here in the northeast. as you see on the satellite radar right now. not a lot going on as far as

precipitation. some showers in the lower mississippi river valley. wet weather off the southeastern atlantic coast and some showers in the pacific northwest with some upper elevation snow. we're looking at chilly conditions here in the northeast with temperatures anywhere from 10 to 15 degrees below normal but at least plenty of sunshine. temperatures seasonal through the southwest on into southern californ 9:06 on a wednesday morning. good morning. i'm meteorologist christina loren. a beautiful day shaping up over san francisco. we will see a lot of sunshine. you see the camera is starting to shake. we have winds picking up. 74 in livermore. 75 in gilroy. 72 in santa teresa. temperatures stay warm for one more day and the rain moves in. heavy rain on the way for your friday and saturday through tuesday with on and off showers. all right, al. thanks. time now for today's "take 3" where we give our take on the

stories that caught our attention and adding his two cents today, actor and comedian, currently on the shaq all-star comedy tour, the great vaness mitchell. what is the shaq all-star comedy tour. >> shaquille o'neal is basically response oregon a big comedy tour that he's been doing for over four years now, stars like kevin hart and everybody who has been on it, has basically gone around the country doing stand-up comedy tour. >> does shaq do standup? >> he wants to. >> he's hysterical and has a youtube channel called comedy shaq. see all his antics on that. >> very cool. >> keep it in the spirit of the last, late-night comics are having an absolute field day with the news of general petraeus' affair. here's jon stewart. >> the woman involved is petraeus' biographer paula broadwell. paula broadwell, why does that name seem so familiar to me? please welcome to the program

paula broadwell. in case anyone out there thought i might have actual journalist instincts, i'll give you a quick snippet of my interview? very high energy person, loves serving, thought i'd test him and he tested me. crushed his pelvis and it was back in the swimming pool. back at it came at it from a mentoring point of view and wanted to help me with this project. he can turn water into bottled water. >> the whole thing was like innuendo after innuendo and the whole time i'm like duh. i'm the worst journalist in the world! for god sakes, the title of her book was "all in." >> wow. >> sometimes the comedy gods just deliver gifts. feels like one of those times. >> it writes itself. >> and all i can say is all you have to do keep an affair secret to be head of the cia, i think i'm qualified to be head of the cia. >> you're just saying. >> i'm just saying. that were me i'm very good at

keeping things on the hush, hush. >> won't push that one. rudimentary steps, using g-mail when you're the head of the cia, probably not the best way to cover it. >> the way terrorists and teenagers communicate, apparently. >> he e-mailed somebody over 45,000 times. >> he's busy. >> where does he get that kind of time? >> even if that's a family member you're e-mailing, that's inappropriate. way, way too much. >> well, they are reviewing something like 20,000 pages of documents which could fill the like riff congress on one man's e-mail exchanges. >> wow. only had afghanistan and iraq and iran and all that other stuff to deal with so maybe he just wasn't that busy, i don't know. >> they found some time. >> we've got to talk about this restaurant review. >> take two. >> from the "new york times." >> our take two. absolutely brutal, funny to some people but probably not that funny to guy fieri talking about his new restaurant, "guy's american kitchen & bar" right here in times square.

pete wells is the restaurant critic who writes in the "times." sampling written in the form of question. guy fieri, have you eaten at your new restaurant in times square? did you notice the menu was an unreliable predictor of what actually came to the table? >> i like this one. >> did you try that blue drink the one that flows like nuclear waste? >> and it goes on and on and on. what exactly about a small salad with four or five miniature croutons make guy's big bite cesare big, b, famous and talks about the awesome pretzel chicken tenders, how far from awesome are they. >> and when we hear the word donkey sauce, what part of the donk rewe supposed to talk about? >> dessert menu, why does a toasted marshmallow taste like fish, a fair question. >> this went viral. >> i know the answer to that. >> they use the same grease. >> there you go. >> marshmallows use grease. >> going to try to get guy on

tomorrow to maybe talk about it. >> and maybe defend it face to face. >> maybe we should try the items, blue drink, the margarita. >> you go right to the margarita. >> got to bring some of his dishes here, you guys try it out and give your own "today" show review. >> it's very personal. i guess the question is do you sometimes, do the critics take too far, to the point where he even says when you cruise around the country for your show diners, drivins and dives raspy out slangy odes to places where americans like to get down and greasy, do you really mean it or is it all an act basically questioning whether or not he deserves to be the restauranteur that he is. we eel have him on hopefully tomorrow and let him go at it. absolutely. >> those could all be people he had an affair with and he's just getting back at him. >> thank you. >> takes the bad review to the next level. >> take three. all right.

take a look at this >> i can't get over this. >> this can't be real. you put this in on your baby, they crawl around and clean the floor. >> kind of ingenious. this thing is selling like hot cakes. >> so the creator says. >> supposedly. some folks -- is this $40 on betterthanpants.com which is an odd site. for the parent who isn't able to give their child everything, give them dust mites and bacteria. >> ridiculous. >> i love it. >> real quick on that, somebody who actually wrote in. i've got to say i love these, bought a dozen of these for my day care. this can't be real. all my kids wear them and my floors are very clean by the end of the day. >> that's horrible! >> what's wrong with people. >> back to food. meatball madness, a between. the owner of the meat ball shop here in new york city taking part in a fund-raising event called the sleepout to benefit

homeless youth. >> it's a charity by the covenant house, myself and 500 other leaders in business, media and sports, are going to be sleeping out on the street so homeless kids don't have to. we're raising money, and now as of october 28th to november 15th all the proceeds are going towards relief efforts due to sandy. >> good for you. >> a great picture. >> where do the meatballs fit into this? >> i own a restaurant called the meatball shop and that's how i was introduced to this charity. >> what are they? >> beef meatballs, pork and spicy meat balls, parmesan creamy sauce, pesto sauce and another beef and tomato. >> no donkey sauce. >> no donkey sauce. guy, we love you, man. >> if everybody wants to get involved, leaders, anybody that wants to donate, please go to covenanthouse.org, you know. it's really important that people are out there helping out. it's devastating what happened.

>> great work. >> great cause. >> thank you so much. >> stay away from the "new york times," by the way. >> should we try these now? >> next, he's got the midas touch when it comes to fashion. andre lyon kelly tells you why every woman should have that little black dress right after this. eeway, and it was just like -- this was the car for me. [ ryan ] it has stuff that guys like, like the rims and the sleekness to the body. and, then, had the bluetooth and the navigation that diana really wanted. [ diana ] and it was an se, so it felt really grounded to the ground. [ man ] grounded to the ground? yes, yes! grounded to the ground. [ male announcer ] see their story and more at the camry effect. camry. from toyota.

this reduced sodium soup says it may help lower cholesterol, how does it work? you just have to eat it as part of your heart healthy diet. step 1. eat the soup. all those veggies and beans, that's what may help lower your cholesterol and -- well that's easy [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. can your moisturizer do that? [ female announcer ] dermatologist recommended aveeno has an oat formula, now proven to build a moisture reserve, so skin can replenish itself. that's healthy skin for life. only from aveeno. it's eb. want to give your family the very best in taste, freshness, and nutrition? it's eb. eggland's best. better taste. better nutrition. better eggs. want to wave to daddy ? ♪ you are exactlyne) one of a kind ♪ we're going to win. woah, that's awesome. ♪ cause we were made for each other for always ♪ score !

two. three. my credit card rewards are easy to remember. with the bankamericard cash rewards credit card, i earn 1% cash back everywhere, every time. [ both ] 2% back on groceries. [ all ] 3% on gas! no hoops to jump through. i earn more cash back on the things i buy most. [ woman in pet store ] it's as easy as... [ all ] one! -two. -[ all ] three! [ male announcer ] the bankamericard cash rewards credit card. apply online or at a bank of america near you.

yoplait strawberry is delish. well jessyca now yoplait original and yoplait light have no high fructose corn syrup. and they're still delish. everyone do the wave. yoplait. it is so good. this morning on "today's style," the little black dress is a fixture of american fashion, and so is andre lyon cali, a contributor at "vogue" and he's been researching the lbd, little black dress, and his work is now on display at the scat museum of art in savannah, georgia. good to have you here this morning. >> thanks for having me. >> spent a year collecting,

researching and finding little black dresses. why did you want to celebrate the lbds. >> president wallace who helped create this museum so i had to fill it up. we have 81 dresses of extraordinary quality and variety. >> let's talk about the evolution of the little black dress and starting off were the dress by marriano fortuni. why is this an important part of the little black dress as far as history goes? >> first of all, the little black dress of fortuni was made in 1901, a classic dress made of pleated silk by an artist who created this look. at the time he did this, this was a look that all society women wanted. really researched kind of little black dress. this dress wasn't for everyone. so iconic and classic, like a

greek column. >> the little black dress, "breakfast in tiffany," the dress audrey hepburn wore. a signal of liberation from the '50s style and a pure line of givanci. >> and marc jacobs made a statement when he word at the costume institute gala last spring, he wore this version of the little black dress. >> it's amazing, amazing, a lace dress. it's lace made for men and marc jacobs came up the steps of the metropolitan museum with white boxer shocks. some were vokd and others were mildly shocked. i was completely befuddled and i thought this was great, and i embrace it had. >> like everybody else. >> three dresses from -- >> we have them on the mannequin starting off with this one right here. this is a norma camalli.

>> pink wore this dress and beyonce wore it for a video. turned it into a jim suit because she had to move a lot. this dress is made of latex, normally associated with dish washing gloves. >> and it's a great, great dress. >> spectacular. >> and this is the quintessential american designer, incredible. i think it's for -- not for a shy wallflower kind of lady. >> have to have the body for that. >> you could wear if. >> no, you won't be seeing that. next, behind you, this is absolutely stunning. >> absolutely stunning. a gorgeous, gorgeous dress. two for one. wear it by day with a zipper in the back and can turn it around and at night it's a cocktail dress. it's cotton and edgy and classic and almost every woman's dress. want to have a dress like that. mildly shaped skirt, a great look. >> and the dress right there on the final end, not much time. >> made of scuba diving neoprene, scuba diving material turned into cocktail dresses. very high end.

>> congratulations on the display at the museum through november 28th. >> thanks for having me. >> coming up, they shut down midtown mat hnat and two bonus songs you didn't get to hear from singing sensations one direction, but first these messages. ♪ you don't know that you're beautiful ♪ ♪ spread a little something to remember ♪ ♪ spread a little joy and see ♪ need a little happiness to be ♪ ♪ living the life with me [ female announcer ] philadelphia cream cheese. made with fresh milk and real cream. it makes your holiday recipes, everyone's holiday favorites. ♪

...and now... you! [ giggles ] ♪ the one and only, cheerios we serve more than starters. we serve igniters. and now, so can you. introducing succulent dumplings and crispy spring rolls. ignite the night with p.f. chang's home menu appetizers. find them near our frozen meals. and you pick the price that works for you. great. whoa, whoa, jamie. watch where you point that thing. [ mocking ] "watch where you point that thing." you point yours, i point mine. okay, l-let's stay calm. [ all shouting ] put it down! be cool! everybody, just be cool! does it price better on the side? no, it just looks cooler. the name your price tool, only from progressive. call or click today. i got you covered. thank you. oh, you're so welcome.

[ annoyed ] i'm pure milk chocolate on the inside. and i love that about you. and here i thought you loved me for my brain. is that made of chocolate too?!!! ♪ ♪ [ camera clicks ] ♪ it's hard to resist the craveable nature of a nature valley sweet & salty nut bar. it's hard to resist the craveable nature hey buddy, i bet mom would love this, huh? jack? jaaack? jaaack?! jack?! looks good ladies! jack!

come on, stop the car. jack! no, no, no, no, no! the only thing more surprising than finding the perfect gifts.. niice. ...is where you find them. how did you know? i had a little help. this is how to gift. this is sears. is the same frequent heartburn treatment as prilosec otc. now with a fancy coating that gives you a burst of wildberry flavor. now why make a flavored heartburn pill? because this is america. and we don't just make things you want, we make things you didn't even know you wanted. like a spoon fork. spray cheese. and jeans made out of sweatpants. so grab yourself some new prilosec otc wildberry. [ male announcer ] one pill each morning. 24 hours. zero heartburn. satisfaction guaranteed or your money back. coming up, how can you you a kiss for "america's got talent? >> at one direction performs after your local news and weather.

♪ it's on. it's on. ♪ black friday's almost here. ♪ we should totally go together. ♪ ♪ ok. can we also bring trevor? ♪ ♪ he's hot. ♪ i think we should get those dvds first. ♪ ♪ duh! they're doorbusters. ♪ missing those would be the worst. ♪ totes. ♪ it's on. it's on, ♪ black friday's almost here. ♪ we should totally shop forever. ♪ ♪ smiley face. don't be late. ♪ or whatever. what if you could shop forever? i'd like to thank eating right, whole grain, multigrain cheerios! mom, are those my jeans? [ female announcer ] people who choose more whole grain tend to weigh less than those who don't. multigrain cheerios

good morning. it is 9:26. i'm laura garcia-cannon. house minority leader nancy pelosi will remain in her leadership role in congress. she held a press conference in washington, d.c. alongside female democrats elected to the house. she told the party caucus she will remain the minority leader although they failed to become the majority again with the necessary 25 seats. >> yesterday, we did not have the majority, but we have the gavel. excuse me. we don't have the gavel. >> think about it, she's used to holding that gavel. nancy pelosi held the seat for a quarter of a century. an offer to sell pollution permits will go forward today despite an appeal.

they aimed at reducing the emissions companies produce. we will take a quick break.

9:28. welcome back. take a look at this beautiful sky. we have plenty of mid-level clouds over san francisco right now. no fog to report. as a result, temperatures are already climbing nicely. we are headed to the 70s today. 74 in livermore. 72 in santa teresa. rain arrives as we head through thursday night and friday. temperatures drop off and we keep that rain in the mix until tuesday. let's check the drive with mike. underneath that sky is a jam here. there goes some sea gulls. looking for some relief. it slow past the coliseum. just a late burst of traffic. 580 is okay on that side of the bay. looking at the peninsula, slow

at 101 into san mateo. south 280 as you approvpproach through san bruno. watch for the slowing through this area as well. there you go for 680 and 880 with the recovery. laura. thank you for joining us. another local news update is coming up in a half hour. have a great wednesday morning.

let me get a couple of adjectives out there to describe this band, neanderthals. >> that was the beginning. at the beginning we were always called neanderthals. that was a compliment. >> did you take it as a compliment? >> that was a compliment. mick jagger, the rolling stones the bad boys of rock 'n' roll for 50 years and mick jagger and the iconic band looking back to the good old days with matt. that's tomorrow on "today." >> 50 years. >> still got moves. >> like jagger, incidentally. i'm willie geist along with natalie morales and al roker. >> a new band of boys from britain making their way to the united states trying all the girls crazy. one direction. yesterday they basically shut down midtown manhattan, the biggest concert of all time. well, they stuck around after our show and then played a few extra songs to the crowd, and we'll show them to you in just a few minutes. >> keep you hanging on a little bit longer. we've got literally a superstar,

paulioning's first novel "the shack" was a runaway hit that spent 50 weeks on the "new york times" best-seller list. it sold 18 million copies, but now he is out with a new novel. we're going to talk to him in just a moment. but first have you dreamed of being on "america's got talent." here is your chance. >> auditions begin today in los angeles. host nick cannon is here with all the details. >> yes. >> nick. >> uh-oh. >> this is the big one. >> it's going down again. i mean, $1 million up for grabs for whatever type of talent you have. >> season eight is bigger and better, going to more cities than ever. >> we are traveling all over the place, and it starts today in los angeles, and then from there every city we're trying to hit to make sure we can find the next big superstar. >> when you have truly auditions, you see some crazy stuff. what's the wildest thing you've seen? >> i mean, you see it on the show. you see my reaction.

that happens when it happens. people -- >> well, there you go. i just saw it actually. >> question answered. >> do you ever, like last year, we had the dog act that won. when you first saw, it did you think they would make it to the end? >> i knew it was something i had never seen before and usually that does extremely well on the show because we've all seen people singing. all seen people dancing but dogs doing backflips, something new. i knew they would go a long way and family friendly. something you can share with your kids and grandma can like it. that's what goes a long way. >> speaking of family friendly, your wife mariah carey on another little show "american idol." a little family rivalry there? >> a competition household. >> who wins? >> definitely the better show. >> and you're hosting the halo awards next week. >> yes. this is the fourth year, an awards show that i created for team nick and nickelodeon.

got tired of celebrities going to awards shot and kicking each other's butts and i said let's shine the lights on proper things, young people doing amazing things in their communities, and halo sends for helping and leading others, and in a time like this when the millennials are doing so much, we just need to recognize them. we have justin bieber, tyra banks, emma stone. >> no butt kissing anywhere. >> no, it's all about the young people. they forget our celebrity and stuff. >> busy man. competition inside your own house while you chase twins. boy, nick cannon, thanks so much. >> good luck with it. >> thank you. >> now a 9:33 now on wednesday morning. getting a beautiful day over san jose. the sky is representative over what is over the bay area. beautiful conditions. temperatures in the 50s and 60s. we are headed toward the 70s. near record warmth this afternoon. 74 in livermore. 74 in santa teresa.

the rain arrives late thursday and friday. have a great day. >> and that's your latest weather. >> al, thank you. coming up next, the newest page-turner from best selling novelist paul young, right after this. yay! come get into bed. this is a story about jingle the husky pup. and jingle was a good dog. ruff! ruff! jingle loved to bark hello. ruff! ruff! ruff! ruff! jingle even loved to sing. ruff! ruff! ruff! ruff! ruff! jingle! let's read the book to him. jingle, stay. and jingle did. ruff! ruff! [ female announcer ] hallmark interactive story buddies. when you read key words, jingle responds. ♪ hark how the bells, sweet silver bells ♪ ♪ all seem to say throw care away ♪ ♪ from everywhere, filling the air ♪ [ female announcer ] chex party mix. easy 15-minute homemade recipes you just pop in a microwave.

like caramel chocolate drizzles. happier holidays. chex party mix. happier holidays. vo: for cold and flu season, honey, don't use your sleeve. there's clorox bleach. to come home for the holidays. that's double miles you can actually use... sadly, their brother's white christmas just got "blacked out." [ brother ] but it's the family party! really jingles your bells, doesn't it? my gift to you! the capital one venture card! for any flight, any time! that's double miles you can actually use! how illuminating. what's in your wallet? let me guess, am i on the naughty list again? ho ho ho! it's a rainy morning becoming a caramel drizzle. with folgers gourmet selections, you can turn any day gourmet.

new roasts, new flavors, and a new look. i got the mommy. ♪ you are exactly one of a kind ♪ all the way up to the third floor. ( ding dong ) who's at the door ? turn on the light, brooke. ( flush ) ♪ cause we were made for each other for always ♪ has oats that can help lower cholesterol? and it tastes good? sure does! wow. it's the honey, it makes it taste so... well, would you look at the time... what's the rush? be happy. be healthy. what's the rush?

it's the dream of every author to hit the best-seller list, so imagine if your first novel not only hit the list but stayed there for almost a year, sold 18 million copies and was translated into 41 languages. that's exactly what happened to paul young's bok "the shack." now he's out with his second spiritual novel called "crossroads." nice to see you. >> good to be here. >> this must be an incredible moment and journey. wrote the first book "the shack," i understand 15 copies were written maybe. wrote it for your kids and now 18 million copies in circumstance laying. how did you get from 15 to 18 million? >> god has a sense of humor, you

know. what i think is my friends are the ones who first ended up giving it away and it began to penetrate in people's lives in a way nobody saw coming. >> what is it about this book because a lot of people write novels and they sit on the shelf and the families are the only ones who read this. why did this one penetrate? >> "the shack" gave people a language to have conversation about god and pain and great losses without it being a religious conversation. >> it's not a religious conversation. people try to pinpoint what kind of books they are, religious, spiritual, how would you describe it? >> 26 publishers turned it down because they couldn't figure out what genre it was and we still don't know. >> how are they feeling now, the 26? >> some are grateful because it opened up a whole readership that they didn't know exist the. a lot of publishing or music is always backwards looking what. are the demographics, what have we sold and let's do it again so

creativity gets sometimes squeezed into a very narrow funnel, and so i think the publishing industry as a whole was grateful something game through, especially when readership has been dropping off and things like that. >> you've given a lot of personal stories of your life. you did that in "the shack." >> it's much more autobiographicaled and there's no way the writer can't put that in. i'm in some of the characters. tony is an unlike al egotistical and self-centered guy. >> couldn't be autobuyingical. >> if you could g back far enough you'll see tony in my own skin. >> you've had critics, whenever you become successful who say when they come out of the woodwork, your books are not true to the bible, and that they misrepresent the holy trinity. >> for one thing, angry people are involved in the

conversation. if they are ambivalent they just don't care and what i love about people who are at least involved in the conversation is they are not telling me about me because i already know about me. if i'm not defensive, if my identity is not at risk here, i'm listening for them to tell me about them, because that's what they are doing. what matters to them, what they are afraid of, what concerns them, and that really does open up a conversation, so i love the controversy. i think -- i think we -- we need to ask these kinds of questions, and they are very human questions. they are very real questions. they are very precious questions, and so i'm not opposed to that kind of, you know, iron-sharpening, the ironing the angles right. >> the new book is "crossroads," paul young. 18 million on the first one. see how you do on this one. >> every day has one day's worth of grace. we'll find out. willie, thank you. >> great to see you. >> up next, one direction performs one of their biggest hits. that's right after this. [ female announcer ] introducing yoplait greek 100.

100% new. ♪ 100% greek. 100% mmm... ♪

oh wow, that is mmm... ♪ in fact it's so mmm you might not believe it's a hundred calories. well ok then, new yoplait greek 100. it is so good. ♪

we're for the individual. the food lover. the movie lover. the road tripper. and the music mentor. ♪ we're for the gamer. the play maker. the page turner. and the up-all-nighters. so when we set out to make a smart phone we didn't make one for all of us. we made one for each of us. new windows phone. reinvented around you. and there's juicy chicken best foods is the secret to making parmesan crusted chicken so juicy so delicious it's your secret to making dinner disappear best foods. bring out the best that's been wrapped in a flaky crust stuffed with a gooey center toasted up all golden brown then given a delicious design? a toaster strudel. pillsbury toaster strudel. so delicious...so fun.

>> boy, talk about one for the ages yesterday. boy band sensation one direction drawing 15,000 fans, biggest crowd ever to the plaza. niall, harry, zayn, louis, liam, couldn't leave without treating

the screaming crowd to a few more songs. here they are, with one of their biggest hits, "one thing. "" ♪ i tried playing it cool but when i'm looking at you ♪ ♪ i can't ever be brave ♪ cause you make my heart race ♪ shot me out of the sky you're my kryptonite ♪ ♪ you keep making me weak ♪ yeah, frozen, it's raining ♪ something's gotta give now ♪ because i'm dying just to make you see ♪ ♪ that i need you here with me now ♪ ♪ cause you've got that one thing ♪ ♪ so get out, get out, get out of my head ♪ ♪ and fall into my arms instead ♪

♪ i don't, i don't, don't know what it is ♪ ♪ but i need that one thing ♪ you've got that one thing >> scream! ♪ now i'm climbing the walls but you don't notice at all ♪ ♪ that i'm going out of my mind all day and all night ♪ ♪ something's gotta give now ♪ cause i'm dying just to know your name ♪ ♪ and i need you here with me now ♪ ♪ cause you've got that one thing ♪ >> everybody, sing it. ♪ so get out, get out, get out of my head ♪ ♪ and fall into my arms instead ♪ ♪ i don't, i don't, don't know what it is ♪ ♪ but i need that one thing

♪ so get out, get out, get out of my mind ♪ ♪ and come on, come into my life ♪ ♪ i don't, i don't, don't know what it is ♪ ♪ but i need that one thing ♪ and you've got that one thing ♪ ♪ ♪ whoa, oh, oh, oh ♪ whoa, oh, oh, oh ♪ you've got that one thing ♪ ♪ get out, get out, get out of my head, and fall into my arms instead ♪ ♪ so get out, get out, get out of my head ♪ ♪ and fall into my arms instead ♪ ♪ i don't, i don't, don't know what it is ♪ ♪ but i need that one thing ♪ so get out, get out, get out

of my mind ♪ ♪ and come on, come into my life ♪ ♪ i don't, i don't, don't know what it is ♪ ♪ but i need that one thing ♪ yeah, you've got that one thing ♪ >> and one more song from one direction, but first this is "today" on nbc.

back now with the bonus performance from the biggest band on the planet right now, one direction. here again with their song "moments." ♪ shut the door, turn the lights off ♪ ♪ i wanna be with you ♪ i wanna feel your love ♪ i wanna lay beside you

♪ i cannot hide this even though i try ♪ ♪ heart beats harder ♪ time escapes me ♪ trembling hands touch skin ♪ it makes this harder ♪ and the tears stream down my face ♪ ♪ if with could only have this life for up more day ♪ ♪ if with could only turn back time ♪ ♪ you know i'll be your life, your voice, your reason to be ♪ ♪ my love, my heart is breathing

for this moment in time ♪ ♪ i'll find the words to say before you leave me today ♪ ♪ close the door, throw the key ♪ ♪ don't wanna be reminded ♪ don't wanna be seen ♪ don't wanna be without you ♪ my judgment's clouded like tonight's sky ♪ ♪ hands are silent, voice is numb ♪ ♪ try to scream out my lungs ♪ it makes this harder and the tears stream down my

face ♪ ♪ if we could only have this life for one more day ♪ ♪ if we could only turn back time ♪ ♪ you know i'll be your life, your voice, your reason to be ♪ ♪ my love, my heart is breathing for this moment in time ♪ ♪ i'll find the words to say before you leave me today ♪ ♪ flashing lights in my mind going back to the time ♪ ♪ playing games in the street, kicking balls with my feet ♪ ♪ there's a numb in my toes standing close to the edge ♪ ♪ there's a pile of my clothes at the end of your bed ♪

♪ as i feel myself fall make a joke of it all ♪ ♪ you know i'll be your life, your voice, your reason to be ♪ ♪ my love, my heart is breathing for this moment in time ♪ ♪ i'll find the words to say before you leave me today ♪ ♪ you know i'll be your life, your voice, your reason to be ♪ ♪ my love, my heart, is breathing for this moment in time ♪ ♪ i'll find the words to say before you leave me today ♪

>> thank you.

good morning. it is 9:56. i'm marla tellez. clean up efforts are in overdrive in daly city as the neighborhood digs out from the massive mudslide. there is concern today that three days of rain starting friday morning could make the situation even worse. a ruptured water main is the reason for the flooded streets and the area with several inches

of mud. the first crabs of the season. crab season officially starts tomorrow. it will be in stores as early as friday. the price has gone up to $3 a pound. oh, so good. let's get a look at the forecast with christina. >> thanks, marla. you know we're going to be unseasonably warm and close to breaking temperature records for today. holding on to the 70s tomorrow and everything changes tomorrow night. 74 in livermore today. 72 in fremonfremont. 72 in san francisco. our first showers arrive tomorrow night. look at what is headed our way on friday morning. expect a sloppy commute. you want to make sure to give yourself plenty of time. the good news is the rainy pattern that starts friday and through the weekend doesn't relent until tuesday. however, the busy travel day of the year is wednesday and we're going to start to clear out just in time. let's check the drive.

mike. good morning. as far as air travel goes, it is good, but we may see people sneak away from the roads from now until then. this is 880 south of fremont. i can find no incidents on the report. i'm looking for sweeper trucks. we have some slowing coming through the area down into the funnel. also 680 as well. something may be going on in mission. there is the bay bridge toll plaza and slowing there, marla. back to you. thanks. for the latest on news and traffic, go to facebook and search nbc bay area. we'll be back at 10:26.

you're halfway through your workweek, it's wipes day wednesday, it is november 14th. so happy you are with us today, a little semidreary, but we are gonna -- >> yeah. v our way with that >> we certainly are. okay, we have an issue that we are hearing more and more about. we thought we just had an issue yesterday, but apparently it's continuing. >> a minor issue, but it's growing. like a -- >> but on monday. >> i think it was monday, she was supposed to be our lead guest. >> and that means at 10:00, with he go on live, that was gonna happen. at 8:30, ring ring, phone rings, chelsea's not feeling good. >> sick all night we were told. >> sick all night. this he decided it would be a

good idea to confess on another national show -- >> because even at the time, we said now it would be interesting to see if she shows up at jimmy fallon. >> let's watch. 'cause she did. let's remember this. >> i wasn't sick. >> so you -- >> no, no i wasn't drunk or anything. i literally walked into a shower door this morning, i hit my eye and so everything's puffy. it was just like i couldn't go with kathie lee gifford and hoda kotaba, whatever her name is. >> so then we were worried about the high it is a problem, if you get hit in the eye. she looked darn good. >> she looked good. she might have great makeup artists. also went that night -- >> to the glamour awards. you can do that with an eye problem. then anyway -- >> she looked darn good, i have to give it to her. >> looked great. in the "new york post," we opened up today to page 6, there is an article in here about chelsea handler again and here

it says -- let's see what happened, first it was her eye. what does it say here? explain -- her publicist explained that she had food poison. okay. but she rebounded quick enough to snuggle with her boyfriend. that's the rest of the article. >> happy they are back together they had broken up. remember what i said to you monday, bet it is something to do with andre belaz, if that is how you pronounce the last name. >> perez hilton decided to get in on the game, i don't know if we can show it, we have to pay money and clear it and things. perez.com called this feud either a drinken celebrity feud, a boozy feud. >> i don't think it rivals donald trump and rosie o'donnell's feud. who am i? >> the vodka chelsea and the slip know -- >> nothing to do with alcohol. none of this -- here is the thing. we have the alcohol on the show because of chelsea handler, do you remember that? a long history with chelsea and we are fond of her, don't get us

wrong. we did not go looking for this feud. when i first started the show, 4 1/2 years ago, out in on the plaza before we got kicked off for rowdiness. >> here is perez. >> what does it say? >> i would like to toast chelsea -- what? >> nude drunken celebrity feud. that's hysterical. >> anyway, she had just come out with her book, "hello, vodka, it's me, chelsea." our producer prepared cocktails for her, just trying to be friendly. yes. >> and so it came and went, the segment came and went, she went bye bye, we'd nice time, she sold a lot of books, a gazillion books and i think it was brooke shields who came on recently after that and said, right after that where's my drink? and it just took off, okay? we have nothing to do with it. wfrmt he heard a rumor, by the way, chelsea did apologize on a show that she apparently has. she has a show? >> i heard a rumor she has a show and she was sorry. we looked for it online and they don't update their show online

because we couldn't find it. anyway -- >> the feud continues. >> we will find out if it is true. >> we are all about keeping the peace here, we want chelsea to come back any time she likes. we hope her black eye and her food poison cleared up. we hope she is happy with her boyfriend. we just want everybody to be happy. we just want to know if it's something that we did. hoda just -- hoda's on a tirade. >> no, i'm not. >> i'm type. you tell me, i'm so much nicer. but hoda wants blood. >> stop. >> so, hoda wants blood, we will get some blood. all get over t >> we have a little surprise for you, one direction was on the plaza yesterday. in fact, filled the plaza, end to end. it was unbelievable. well, we kind of got gypped yesterday, we didn't get a song from one direction, we are making up for it today, they are going to sing a song on our air they taped yesterday called "let me kiss you." the plaza was packed, all the children are gone and the christmas tree is here. ♪ it's christmastime >> who sings that?

the tree is here, an 80-foot norway spruce, made its way from new jersey to our plaza. it weighs ten tons, 50 feet in eye am at this the thing they string with a gas zil yip lights and i think they are doing the tree lighting -- >> early this year. 27th -- >> 28th. >> al rocker around savannah guthrie will be doing that, a big deal, the official start to the tourist season. all the tourists that come and every than works here runs for their life. but it is going to be beautiful. >> takes a minute for it to settle. always looks strange when it is first getting set up. it settles and they trim t >> always a little bit like charlie brown's christmas tree to begin with, then they do their pruning and their snipping it looks real good. pretty. so some target employees upset -- >> i understand this, hoda, i do. >> something you guys know called black friday, open up the store for sales and stuff. target decided they wanted to do it early on thanksgiving day,

starting at 7 p.m. that means you wrap up your meal early and -- >> 9 p.m. >> 9 p.m., i'm sorry. the workers have to go in and start workinging and the people who are looking for sales have to quickly eat and get online. >> almost 200,000 people, target employees signed an online petition. walmart, toys r united states, kmart and sears opening their doors at 8 p.m. thursday, two to four hours before they kicked things off last year. >> with he decided to do a poll at today.com if you guys think it is a good idea to do it on thursday or wait until friday, 60% on our today.com poll says friday should be the start. >> at 7 a.m. >> instead of people having to wreck their thanksgiving meal. >> here is the thing, you know how you lose a civilization, hoda woman, not to get so heavy about it, but it is not overnight. it is one choice at a time. you all of a sudden decided to is more important to make money or sell something than to be a family and be together. and each time we do it, we wonder why we feel like a

stranger in our up country because we used to celebrate. we used to actually take a day to be grateful for what we had as opposed to having to go out and get more stuff. >> right. that within three days nobody's gonna care about. i know the economy is tough and i know that the retailers need the sales and all of that but when we lose perspective about what really matters in this world, we have lost everything, i think. >> so let's shop on friday. >> i think so. >> i think you're right. i think so, too. >> unless you don't have a family to celebrate with. but people -- i don't know, are these stores going to pay employees more to work on a holiday? >> i don't know if that is the case. >> a lot of people are out of work, you need the job. it is unfortunate. i really do. >> we are going to talk about a wednesday -- is it wednesday? it is wednesday. >> winesday wednesday. >> talk about a trend. >> this has been around forever though. >> this is a trend and it is peanut birth and pickles. it is national pickle day, in case you didn't know. according to the "new york

times," a old favorite it has emerged again. i guess it is the tartness and the tanginess of the pickle coupled with the peanut. >> any given morning, you and i can be found with our peanut butter. every morning we have that guy, that natural stuff that we eat. >> yeah. >> but not gonna do it with the pickles. >> say it a grown up version of pbj because the salty makes it more delicious. >> go for it, hoda. >> i think it's pretty good. >> really? >> uh-huh. i like sweet. i like that try it? make you sick. >> thank you very much. but there is a simply naked wines survey which i will partake in. almost all female wine drinkers apparently prefer to enjoy a glass on saturdays at a restaurant. >> what? >> why? more than half of wine drinkers consider themselves confident. that's hoda woman. about 20% of wine drinkers have skinny dipped. i'm surprised it is not more, depending on how much wine they have h 25% are bound to

spontaneously dance. >> i have a great one coming up for tomorrow. hi, hoda, you are going to love it. >> drinking simply naked undressed red wine today. from simplily naked wines.com. for more info, go to -- >> go to simply naked wines? >> yeah. if it only told me, i'd tell you. >> we are thrilled, there was a chance yesterday that you and i could have looked really, really stupid, not on our own show but someone else's. >> what else. >> we went on who wants to be a millionaire with meredith vieira, an episode taped and air -- >> spring, we were at the end of her taping schedule. >> playing for a charity it is scary, when you get started, it is going to be like this is one of those exposing your lack of knowledge. i was -- >> children's miracle hospital networks or -- yeah, the other way around. children's miracle network hospitals. >> anyway -- >> incredible organization. meredith is such fun. she is a doll. she really is. it is interesting, you hear about these organizations that

just get huge and they do such incredible work but when you think about it started out with marie osmond and john schneider, two people who came together and started it and now it's millions and millions and millions of dollars raised so that children can go to these hospitals free of charge. it's just miraculous. >> great, great charity. >> god bless them. it was great to see. have to wait until may. i'm proud of my hoedy. best nope for delivering punch lines but in his latest film, chris tucker takes a dramatic turn. >> talk about the movie "silver linings" right after this. [ female announcer ] research suggests cell health plays a key role

throughout our lives. one a day women's 50+ is a complete multivitamin designed for women's health concerns as we age. it has more of 7 antioxidants to support cell health. one a day 50+. ♪ you are exactly ♪ ♪ one of a kind ♪ can go to these hospitals free dramatic turn. i'm gonna cut the pizza. what flavor is that? lemon green! ♪ clean up time ♪ ♪ clean up time ♪

i just served my mother-in-law your chicken noodle soup but she loved it so much... i told her it was homemade. everyone tells a little white lie now and then. but now she wants my recipe [ clears his throat ] [ softly ] she's right behind me isn't she? [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. to bring you a low-priced medicare prescription drug plan. ♪ with a low national plan premium... ♪ ...and copays as low as one dollar... ♪ ...saving on your medicare prescriptions is easy. ♪ so you're free to focus on the things that really matter. call humana at 1-800-808-4003. or go to walmart.com for details.

you know him best as the loud and very hilarious star of the "rush hour" films with jackie chan, but chris tucker has a serious side. >> he takes a dramatic turn as a parent named danny living in a psychiatric facility, where danny befriends bradley cooper's character, pat, who tells danny about a special woman in his life.

take a look. >> what did he say? >> you were helping each other out, you were nice and you -- you had a mouth on you, but -- >> whoa, whoa, whoa. >> a little mouthy. >> no, please, tell me more about what he said in the letter. >> anything you want to know, i will tell nut letter, nothing, it was a very jeep letter. >> cool. >> she's fine. >> she is my friend with an f. >> a capital f. >> you slipped your humor in there. >> nice to have you. and by the way, we appreciate all the grooming you did for us today. >> thank you. thank you. >> no one smells better in this studio than chris today. >> smells fine. >> tell us about your character in this. you are -- we said a little bit about it in a psychiatric hospital with bradley cooper's character. >> who suspect? a few weeks in there, too. >> i think we all crazy. no, it's a fun character, real fun character. you know, i play a character named danny and he is -- he meets bradley cooper's character in this mental hospital and he is just real positive and he just shows up throughout the movie, my character. and a fun character with a lot of depth. quite the mouth on him? >> a little mouth. a little mouth.

he talks about a lot of legal stuff, 'cause i guess he study a lot of legal stuff, he keep trying to get out of this mental institution but keep making him come back. >> technically aring in theed with? what condition? what's his issue? >> i think he is like a little bit of -- i think he takes a lot of medication and he mixes it up and he has a little bit of -- probably all of it, ocd, bipolar. >> confused. >> what a cast, by the way, robert de niro is in this, again, bradley cooper is in this, you're in this jennifer lawrence. >> how did you get involved in this film? >> i read the script, a cool little part, an important part in the movie, of course, i knew it was a great director, david o. russell. so i thought it would be a fun cast because, i get t they told the director, david o. russell, i wanted to do t surprised i wanted to do it. >> how come? you are picky about what you do, which is smart. we do know you so much from -- this is not your first serious role either, though sort of

semiserious comedic role. >> i did years ago earlier in my career, part of the surprised, with the "rush hours" and comedy and that stuff, this was a good opportunity to show a different side. >> i'm sure a lot of people come up to you want to know when is the next "rush hour" is coming out, those are such hits, you and jackie together. is there another one? or is that over? >> talking about it me and jackie love to work with each other again. hopefully we can get something going on soon. >> do you see him of then? stay in touch? >> i see him a lot, when he is in the states, of course. so, we try -- we hang out a little bit when he comes to town. >> uh-huh. >> yeah. >> talk about your juicy personal life. you know that's always -- >> sadly run out of time for that. >> okay. >> the man who smells as good as you has got a juicy personal life. great to see you. >> thank you. >> good luck with the film. >> "silver linings playbook" hits select theaters on friday and opens nationwide on november 21st.

>> we are all all about handsome men today. people magazine reveals the sexiest man alive, you might have heard of him, next. ♪ ♪ wow... [ female announcer ] sometimes, all you need is the smooth, creamy taste of werther's original caramel to remind you that you're someone very special. ♪ now discover new caramel apple filled werther's original.

"are you a cool mom?" i'm gonna find out. [ female announcer ] swiffer wetjet's pads are better than ever. now they have the scrubbing power of mr. clean magic eraser so you don't have to get down on your hands and knees to scrub away tough, dried-on stains. hey, do you guys think i'm "momtacular" or "momtrocious"? ♪ [ female announcer ] swiffer. now with the scrubbing power of mr. clean magic eraser. till you finish your vegetables. [ clock ticking ] [ male announcer ] there's a better way... v8 v-fusion. vegetable nutrition they need, fruit taste they love. could've had a v8. or...try kids boxes! i am making crescent bacon cheddar pinwheels. wow, i'm impressed! [ ding ] dad, the cable's out!

you got that right? [ kiss ] thank you ♪ [ male announcer ] pillsbury crescents. let the making begin.

in case you haven't heard, people magazine did reveal its sexiest man alive today. >> if you weren't awake earlier today when it was announced, you are in luck, people magazine senior writer julie jordan is here with all the juicy details and photos to ma. >> the sexiest man alive we showed on your cover is channing tatum. he is a hot ticket this one. >> actually one of the sweetest guests we have the ever had. he is an alabama boy right? >> yes. he is. >> so polite. >> tell us why you guys picked him? >> this is his year. of course, we know him from his amazing movies but "magic mike" movie, might have seen. >> the dancing. >> the body. i sat down with him, so clear how much more there was to him besides just the chisell eled b.

he is a sculptor. foot rubs in return from jenna and so in love with his wife. >> so in love with his wife, which is sexy. >> he is ready to be a dad. he is ready to just have his family. he is as well rounded -- you hope for the perfect package, channing is it, a good guy. >> the beauty, you can page through this and see lots and lots of sexy guys, you have the chill guy section, on that list, love this list, my favorite, george clooney, hugh jackman and blake shelton. >> that is a hot trifecta. >> well, george, of course. we asked these guys what is your idea of a good time? george said his idea is friends and family, late night different on some lake in italy. >> lake como, right? >> and then blake shelton, being at home watching the arizona cardinals game. >> normalcy. >> look at blake. let's see that. >> exactly. and he just loves his family. he is all about pancakes, having

a flat white, australian for a latte. >> a section in here called ed shades of grey" not what you think. guys with gray hair. one of the guys you selected was matt lauer. >> have to say donny deutsch, too. >> a little joke. >> just kidding. >> gorgeous hair. >> why is brad pitt on the 50 shades? >> scraggly beard. last year, way more salt and pepper than we have seep him in the past. i think he is embracing the ageing process, he still looks amazing, still sexy, not going to take that away from him. >> i like when you go through the at any able kind of thing. >> yes. >> again one of our guys, a new guy, willie geist. >> willie geist. where is he? there he is. he is 37. >> 37. >> yeah. he is amazing. you know, he just -- you guys know him, he is so lovable and has just such a self-depp prak

kating sense of humor that makes a guy sexy, too. >> how did you pick them? just look through magazines and start picking through? >> you have your favorites for sure. each of us are going to say this guy's got to be in there. >> who would you pick if you were the sole person picking the cover? >> myself? i sat down with channing, i'm a believer. >> said you weren't before. >> i wasn't sure, like in the past if he was ever gonna make it. this year, he has got everything. >> fell in love with the man, the person. >> i swooped. i hate it when i swoon. but i swooned. >> made for swooning. we swoon too of the with the wrong people. that's the problem. who would you pick? >> i like -- just looking at the 50-plus. i love christopher -- i can't even read now, meloni. the guy from "law & order:svu." >> hoda loves flo rida. >> all ages of sexy. >> costner there >> we just read while you are --

>> page through. it's fine. >> are there -- i guess you want to sometimes repeat, off clooney or a brad pitt but do you try to stay away from doing that? >> i think -- i hope every guy is going to have their due at some point in the future. i think clooney and pitt have both been on the cover twice. channing might do it again in the future, too. >> hugh jackman, "les miserables" comes out. >> ripe goyan goes ling, somebol bubble to the top and we will say it is his year. >> greet see you. you swooner, you. >> "people" sexiest man alive hits shelves friday. and playing bella and edward's daughter, we will talk to mackenzie foy. one direction saved one of their newest hits for us. >> the performance after the local news. hershey's bliss.

one square inch of deliciously smooth chocolate in creamy milk... or rich dark. incredible indulgence. one square inch of bliss. hershey's bliss. faster than mandy can hang up on mr. monday. you hang up first. [ female announcer ] in just 60 seconds, you've got snack-defying, satisfying totino's pizza rolls. [ ringing ] it's on. let's roll.

good morning. it is 10:26. i'm marla tellez. pse&g workers are coming home after helping out with superstorm sandy. the workers spent the past two weeks in the hardest hit areas in new york. more than 2 million homeowners were left in the dark when superstorm sandy hit the eastern

seaboard. some businesses are still without power. power is expected to be turned back on fully at some point today. after the break, we'll take a look at the forecast and the roads.

10:28 now. taking a beautiful live look over san francisco. you can see old glory blowing in the offshore winds. that will warm us into the 70s. we have a good-looking day shaping up. low clouds developing offshore. keep that in mind if you are

mariner interests later on. 73 in livermore. 73 in santa teresa. we have rain on the way, but not just yet. not until tomorrow evening. we time this out to your door step at 11:00. mike. fremont. what a difference a half hour makes. we had things jammed up to the funnel at mission boulevard. now much clearer all the way down through fremont out of union city. we will look at the san mateo bridge as well tlc. there is some haze. pretty standard there. the bay bridge has some back up with these folks to the bottom of the screen. both directions showing the same volume underneath the university avenue overcross there. marla, back to you. thank you, mike. we will have more of the top stories coming up at 11:00.

♪ i'll be there for you we are back with more of today on this wipes day wednesday, ready to plate weekly trivia game called "who knew." we wanted to test your knowledge about one of the most popular shows of all times called "friends," must-see tv for millions of americans. kathy is across the street at the nbc experience store, ready to happened out $100 to those who get the answers right and those who don't, they get kathie lee's cd. everyone is a winner. she is also going to hand out the complete series of "friends" no matter how you anticipate. now, james michael tyler played gunther, who spent years piping for rachel while working at the coffee house, is here to help us with the answers. do you remember even the show? >> you know what, i'm really, really bad at trivia, we will see what happens. >> we will see what happens. kath, to you. >> lovely lady from grand rapids, works for y'all way, doesn't everybody in grand rapped? i okay. say joey tribiani's most notable pickup line.

do you know it? >> how are you doin'? >> perfect. i believe you won the -- >> and we should point out you said it with the proper emphasis, too. >> how you do.? >> how did that line come about? how did it happen? >> i don't know. i think matt used to say that in real life and the writers popped it in there. >> there he is. how you doin'? back across the street. >> lovely lady from new jersey, name the four characters in this throw back clip. is that what it says? >> boyfriend. >> so guy looks like corey haim wants to kiss me tonight. >> listen, you can't tell -- >> who are those people? their characters names? >> i know chandler and rock i didn't know the females. >> what was jennifer aniston's name in it? >> cheating. cheating. what was the other one? >> rachel -- >> no, i'm sorry,

this is an nbc news special report. here's brian williams. >> good day from new york. and in moments we're going to go to the eastern room at the white house for the president's 35th solo news conference of his presidency. his first since being elected to a second term. and it comes at a fraught time for the still fresh coat of paint on the second term. chuck todd, our chief white house correspondent political director standing by where the president will be walking in in just momentses. chuck, the intention of this when first announced was to talk about the fiscal cliff, then, of course, "the apprentice" et al matter has come up. i know the president has an opening statement but i expect the questioning to be dominated by the trouble at the pentagon and cia. >> that's right. the opening statement is going to be all about the fiscal cliff where he's going to lay out his stance, where he wants to have

these talks go, where he wants taxes and the tax rates. you're right. he knows about half this press conference could be dominated by questions about petraeus, questions about libya, question about benghazi and his national security team. you heard john mccain and lindsey graham today come out vehemently against the idea of susan rice becoming secretary of state. there's a whole bunch of questions that this white house would prefer not to be dealing with today. they'd prefer to be talking about the fiscal cliff. i have a feeling they'll be disappointed. >> of course, so far, the story that started with david petraeus is so complex we actually chose to diagram it out last night. there are no new components today but washington will be all riled up with investigations and hearings for the foreseeable future. >> that's right. and there is now talk david petraeus will testify in the next couple of days, either tomorrow or friday, that should loosen, let out some steam. >> chuck todd has to sit down.

the president is entering the room. >> good afternoon, everybody. please have a seat. i hear you have some questions for me. but let me just make a few remarks at the top and then i'll open it up. first of all i want to reiterate what i said on friday. right now, our economy is still recovering from a very deep and damaging crisis. so our top priority has to be jobs and growth. we've got to build on the progress that we've made, because this nation succeeds when we have a growing, thriving middle class. and that's the idea at the core of the plan that i talked about on the campaign trail over the last year. rewarding manufacturers and small businesses that create jobs here, not overseas, providing more americans the chance to earn the skills that businesses are looking for right now. keeping this country at the forefront research, technology and clean energy, putting people back to work, rebuilding our roads, bridges and our schools

and reducing our deficit in a balanced and responsible way. now, on this last item, we face a very clear deadline that requires us to make some big decisions on jobs, taxes and deficits by the end of the year. both parties voted to set this deadline and i believe that both parties can work together to make these decisions in a balanced and responsible way. yesterday i had a chance to meet with labor and civic leaders for their input. today i'm meeting with ceos of some of america's largest companies and i'll meet with leaders of both parties of congress before the week is out. because there's only one way to solve these challenges. that is to do it together. as i've said before, i'm open to compromise and i'm open to new ideas. and i've been encouraged over the past week to hear republican after republican agree on the need for more revenue from the wealthiest americans as part of our arithmetic if we're going to be serious about reducing the

deficit. because when it comes to taxes, there are two pathways available. option one, if congress fails to act by the end of this year, everybody's taxes will automatically go up. including the 98% of americans who make less than $250,000 a year. and the 97% of small businesses who earn less than $250,000 a year. that doesn't make sense. our economy can't afford that right now. certainly no middle class family can afford that right now. and nobody in either party says that they want it to happen. the other option is to pass a law right now that would prevent any tax hike whatsoever on the first $250,000 of everybody's income. and by the way, that means every american, including the wealthiest americans get a tax cut. it means that 98% of all americans and 97% of all small businesses won't see their taxes

go up a single dime. the senate has already passed a law like this. democrats in the house are ready to pass a law like this. and i hope republicans in the house come on board, too. we should not hold the middle class hostage while we debate tax cuts for the wealthy. we should at least do what we agree on, and that's to keep middle class taxes low. and i'll bring everyone in to sign it right away so we can give folks some certainty before the holiday season. i won't pretrend that figuring out everything else will be easy, but i'm confident we can do it and i no he we have to. i know that that's what the american people want us to do. that was the very clear message from the election last week. and that was the message of a letter that i received over the weekend. it came from a man in tennessee who began by writing that he didn't vote for me. which is okay.

but what he said was, even though he didn't give me his vote, he's giving me his support to move this country forward. and he said the same to his republican representatives in washington. he said that he'll back each of us regardless of party, as long as as we work together to make life better for all of us. and he made it clear that if we don't make enough progress he'll be back in touch. so my hope, he wrote, is that we can make progress in light of personal and party principles, special interest groups and years of business as usual. we've got to work together and put our differences aside. i couldn't say it better myself. that's precisely what i intend to do and with that, let me open it up for your questions. and i'm going to start off with ben feller of ap. >> reporter: thank you, mr. president. can you assure the american people that there have been no

breaches of national security or classified information in the scandal involving generals petraeus and allen? and do you think that you as commander in chief and the american people should have been told that the cia chief was under investigation before the election? >> well, i have no evidence at this point, from what i've seen, that classified information was disclosed, that in any way would have had a negative impact on our national security. obviously there's an ongoing investigation. i don't want to comment on the specifics of the investigation. the fbi has its own protocols in terms of how they proceed. i'm going to let director muller and others examine those protocols and make some statements to the public generally. i do want to emphasize what i've said before. general petraeus had an

extraordinary career. he served this country with great distinction, in iraq, in afghanistan and as head of the cia. by his own assessment, he did not meet the standards that he felt were necessary as the director of the cia with respect to this personal matter that he is now dealing with with his family and with his wife. and it's on that basis that he tendered his resignation and it's on that basis that i accepted it. but i want to emphasize that, from my perspective at least, he has provided this country an extraordinary service. we are safer because of the work that dave petraeus has done. and my main hope right now is that he and his family are able to move on and that this ends up being a single side note on what

has otherwise been an extraordinary career. >> [ inaudible ]. >> again, i think you'll have to talk to the fbi in terms of what their general protocols are when it comes to what started off as a potential criminal investigation. one of the challenges here is that we're not supposed to meddle in criminal investigations and that's been our practice. and i think that there are certain procedures that both the fbi follow or d.o.j. follow when they're involved in these investigations. that's traditionally been how we view things, in part because people are innocent until proven guilty. we want to make sure we don't prejudge these kinds of situations. and so my expectation is that they follow protocols they already established.

jessica yellin. where's jessica? right there. >> reporter: mr. president, on the fiscal cliff, two years ago, sir, you said you wouldn't extend the bush era tax cuts but at the end of the day you did. respectfully, sir, why should the american people and republicans believe you won't cave again this time? >> well, two years ago the economy was in a different situation. we were still very much in the early parts of recovering from the worst economic crisis since the great depression. and ultimately we came together, not only to extend the bush tax cuts but also a wide range of policies that were going to be good for the economy at that point. unemployment insurance extensions, payroll tax extension, all of which made a difference and is part of the reason why what we've seen now is 32 consecutive months of job

growth and over 5.5 million jobs created and the unemployment rate coming down. but what i said at the time is what i meant, which is this was a one-time proposition. and what i have told leaders privately as well as publicly is that we cannot afford to extend the bush tax cuts for the wealthy. what we can do is make sure that middle-class taxes don't go up. and so the most important step we can take right now, i think the foundation for a deal that helps the economy, creates jobs, gives consumers certainty, which means gives businesses confidence that they're going to have consumers during the holiday season, is if we right away say 98% of americans are not going to see their taxes go up. 97% of small businesses are not going to see their taxes go up.

if we get that in place, we are actually removing half of the fiscal cliff. half of the danger to our economy is removed by that single step. and what we can then do is shape a process whereby we look at tax reform, which i'm very eager to do. i think we can simplify our tax system. i think we can make it more efficient. we can eliminate loopholes and deducks that have a distorting affect on our economy. i believe we have to continue to take a serious look at how we reform our entitlements, because health care costs continue to be the biggest driver of our deficits. so there is a package to be shaped and i'm confident that folks of good will in both parties can make that happen. but what i'm not going to do is

extend bush tax cuts for the wealthiest 2% that we can't afford and, according to economists, will have the least positive impact on our economy. >> reporter: you've said the wealthiest must pay more. would closing loopholes instead of raisitisfy you? >> i think that there are loopholes that can be closed and we should look at how we can make the process of deductions, the filing process easier, simpler, but when it comes to the top 2%, what i'm not going to do is to extend further a tax cut for folks who don't need it which would cost close to $1 trillion. and it's very difficult to see how you make up that trillion dollars, if we're serious about deficit reductions by closing loopholes and deductions.

the math tends not to work. i think it's important to establish a basic principle that was debated extensively during the course of this campaign. this shouldn't be a surprise to anybody. this was, if there was one thing that everybody understood, was a big difference between myself and mr. romney, it was when it comes to how we reduce our deficit, i argued for a balanced, responsible approach and part of that included making sure that the wealthiest americans pay a little bit more. i think every voter out there understood that that was an important debate. and the majority of voters agreed with me. by the way, more voters agreed with me on this issue than voted for me. we've got a clear majority of the american people who recognize if we're going to be serious about deficit reduction, we have to do it in a balanced way. the only question now is, are we going to hold the middle class hostage in order to go ahead and let that happen? or can we all step back and say here's something we agree on, we

don't want middle class taxes to go up. let's go ahead and lock that in. that will be good for the economy. it will be good for consumers. it will be good for businesses. it takes the edge off the fiscal cliff. and let's also then commit ourselves to the broader package of deficit reduction that includes entitlement changes and it includes potentially tax reform as well as i'm willing to look at additional work that we can do on the discretionary spending side. so i want a big deal. i want a comprehensive deal. i want to see if we can, you know, at least for the foreseeable future provide certainty to businesses and the american people so we can focus on job growth, so we're also investing in the things that we need. but right now what i want to make sure is the taxes on middle-class families don't go up. there's an easy way to do that. we could get that done by next week. okay.

lori montenegro, telemundo. >> on immigration reform, the criticism in the past has been that you did not put forth legislation with specific ideas and send it up to the hill. this time around you have said again this will be one of top priorities for a second term. will you then send legislation to the hill? and exactly what do you envision is broad immigration reform? does that include a legalization program? and also, what lessons, if any, did democrats learn from this last election and the latino vote? >> well, i think what was incredibly encouraging was to see a significant increase in latino turnout. it is the fattest growing group in the country and historically

what you've seen is latino vote at lower rates than the broader population. and that's beginning to change. you're starting to see a sense of empowerment and civic participation that i think is going to be powerful and good for the country. and it is why i'm very confident that we can get immigration reform done. before the election, i had given a couple interviews where i predicted that the latino vote was going to be strong and that that wouz called some reflection on the part of republicans about their position on immigration reform. i think we're starting to see that already. i think that's a positive sign. this is not historically been a partisan issue. we've had president bush and john mccain and others who have supported comprehensive immigration reform in the past. so we need to seize the moment. and my expectation is that we get a bill introduced and we begin the process in congress very soon after my inauguration

and, in fact, some conversations, i think, are beginning to take place among senators and congressmen and my staff about what would this look like. when i say comprehensive immigration reform, it's very similar to the outlines of previous efforts of comprehensive immigration reform. i think it should include a continuation of the strong border security measures that we've taken, because we have to secure our borders. i think it should contain serious penalties for companies that are purposely hiring undocumented workers and taking advantage of them. and i do think that there should be a pathway for legal status for those who are living in this country, are not engaged in criminal activity, are here simply to work. it's important for them to pay back taxes. it's important for them to learn english. it's important for them to potentially pay a fine. but to give them the avenue

whereby they can resolve their legal status here in this country, i think, is very important. obviously making sure that we put in the law what the first step that we've taken administrative dealing with the dream act kids is very important as well. one thing i'm very clear about is that young people who are brought here through no fault of their own, who have gone to school here, pledged allegiance to our flag, want to serve in our military, want to go to school and contribute to our society, that they shouldn't be under the cloud of deportation. that we should give them every opportunity to earn their citizenship. and so, there are other components to it, obviously. the business community continues to be concerned about getting enough high-skilled workers. i am a believer if you have a ph.d. in physics or computer science who wants to stay here and start a business here, we shouldn't make it harder for him

to stay here. we should try to encourage him to contribute to this society. i think that the agricultural sector has specific concerns about making sure that they've got a work force that helps deliver food to our tables. there are going to be a bunch of components to it but i think whatever process we have needs to make sure border security is strong, needs to deal with employers effectively, needs to provide a pathway for the undocumented here, needs to deal with the dream act kids and i think that's something that we can get done. >> chuck todd. where's chuck? >> mr. president, i just want to follow up on a couple of questions. on having to do with ben's question -- >> how about lori's question? >> i feel like you answered that one completely. >> are you withholding judgment on whether you should have known sooner that there was a

potential -- theat there was an investigation into whether -- potentially there was a national security breach with your cia director. do you believe you should have known sooner or are you withholding until there's a follow up. and tax rates, is there no deal at the end of the year if tax rates for the top 2% aren't the clinton tax rates, period? no if, ands or buts, any room in negotiating on that specific aspect of the fiscal cliff? >> i am withholding judgment with respect to how the entire process surrounding general petraeus came up. you know, we don't have all the information yet. but i want to say that i have a lot of confidence, generally, in the fbi. they've got a difficult job.

and so i'm going to wait and see to see -- >> is there a way you should have known, in hindsight? >> chuck, what i'll say, it is also possible that had we been told then you'd be sitting here asking a question about why were you interfering in a criminal investigation. so i think it's best right now for us to just see how this whole process unfolds. with respect to the tax rates, i want to emphasize, i am open to new ideas, if the republican counterparts or some democrats, have a great idea for us to raise revenue, maintain progressivety, make sure the middle class isn't getting hit, reduces our deficit, encourages growth. i'm not going to just slam the door in their face. i want to hear -- i want to hear

ideas from everybody. >> full red line? >> well, look, i believe this is solvable. i think that fair-minded people can come to an agreement that does not cause the economy to go back into recession, that protects middle-class families, focuses on jobs and growth and reduces our deficit. i'm confident it can be done. my budget, frankly, does it. i understand -- i don't expect the republicans simply to adopt my budget. that's not realistic. i recognize we'll have to compromise. as i said on election night, compromise is hard. and not everybody gets 100% of what they want and not everybody will be perfectly happy. but what i will not do is to have a process that is vague, that says we're going to sort of, kind of, raise revenue through dynamic scoring or

closing loopholes that have not been identified. and the reason i won't do that is because i don't want to find ourselves in a position six months from now or a year from now where lo and behold, the only way to close a deficit is to sock it to middle-class families or to burden families that have disabled kids or, you know, have a parent in a nursing home or suddenly we've got to cut more out of our basic research budget that is the key to growing the economy in the long term. that's my concern. i'm less concerned about red lines, per se. what i'm concerned about is not finding ourselves in a situation where the wealthy aren't paying more or aren't paying as much as they should. middle class families one way or

another, are making up the difference. that's the kind of status quo that has been again on here too long and that's exactly what i argued against during this campaign. and if there's one thing i'm pretty confident about is the american people understood what they were getting when they gave me this incredible privilege of being in office for another four years. they want compromise. they want action. but they also want to make sure that middle-class folks aren't bearing the entire burden and sacrifice when it comes to some of these big challenges. they expect that folks at the top are doing their fair share as well. and that's going to be my guiding principle during these negotiations but more importantly during the next four years of my administration. nancy cortes. >> mr. president, on election night you said that you were looking forward to speaking with governor romney, sitting down in the coming weeks to discuss ways you could work together on this nation's problems.

have you extended that invitation? has he accepted and in what ways do you think we can work together? >> he haven't scheduled something yet. i think everybody forgets that the election was only a week ago. i know i've forgotten. i forgot on wednesday. i think everybody needs to catch their breath. i'm sure that governor romney is spending some time with his family. and my hope is before the end of the year, though, that we have a chance to sit down and talk. you know, there are certain aspects of governor romney's record and his ideas that i think could be very helpful. and, well, to give you one example, i do think he did a terrific job running the olympics. and you know, that skill set of trying to figure out how do we make something work better applies to the federal government.

there are a lot of ideas that i don't think are partisan ideas but are just smart ideas about how can we make the federal government more customer friendly, how can we make sure we're consolidating programs that are duplicative. how can we reduce additional waste. he presented ideas during the campaign that i actually agree with. it would be interesting to talk to him about something like that. there may be ideas he has with respect to jobs and growth that can help middle-class families that i want to hear. i'm not either prejudging what he's interested in doing nor am i suggesting i've got some specific assignment, but what i want to do is to get ideas from him and see if there's some ways we can pot